The Bible was banned in several schools in Utah after a complaint from a parent made its way to the Davis School District in the northern part of the state, multiple sources reported on Friday.
The parent was reportedly frustrated with the book bans in their district and so decided to submit a complaint of their own. The parent's complaints also cited the state's law passed last year that bans books that contain material considered "pornographic and indecent," stating that it's one of the "most sex-ridden books around." NBC News quoted the parents as writing that the texts include "incest, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape and even infanticide."
Reports of book bannings, largely initiated by conservatives, have often targeted material that references gender identity or sexuality.
Bibles will still be available at high school libraries
The district ultimately removed the Bible from elementary and middle schools, citing "vulgarity and violence" in its texts, but would allow it to be limited to high school libraries.
The district has nearly 74,000 students, according to NBC, and only seven or eight of the district's schools even had a copy of the religious book.
The Davis School District is additionally considering banning the Book of Mormon in addition to the Bible, a spokesperson for the district told the Salt Lake Tribune, which reported the banning as being "aimed at the foundational text of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Utah's population is said to be between 50%-60% Mormon.
The reasoning behind the attempt to ban the religious text is that it includes violence, the Tribune reported. The book is currently being assessed for the same criteria under the Bible's assessment. The reasoning behind the assessment is that it includes battles, beheadings and kidnappings in its text.