Washington DC - A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans turned into a massive cringe-fest on Tuesday when Republican Senator John Kennedy began reading out sexually explicit scenes.

Louisiana Republican John Kennedy defended bans on books dealing with race, gender, and sexuality by reading out select passages for the congressional record during a Tuesday hearing.

"I put some lube and got him on his knees and I began to slide into him from behind," Kennedy read from a book called All Boys Aren't Blue, a young adult memoir-manifesto about journalist and activist George M. Johnson's life growing up as a queer Black man.

"I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated," Kennedy went on. "He asked me to turn over while he slipped a condom on himself. This was my a**! And I was struggling to imagine someone inside of me. He got on top and slowly inserted himself into me. It was the worst pain I think I ever felt in my life. Eventually, I felt a mix of pleasure with the pain."

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The senator also quoted from a book called Gender Queer, saying, "I got a new strap-on harness today. I can’t wait to put it on you. It will fit my favorite dildo perfectly. You are going to look so hot. I can’t wait to have your c*** in my life. I’m going to give you the b***job of your life, then I want you inside of me."

Kennedy then turned to a witness and asked if he was "suggesting that only librarians should decide if the two books that I just referenced should be available to kids."

"What planet did you just parachute in from? Or what country, more appropriately. This is not China!" he railed.

Democrats countered that Republicans' citation of sexually explicit passages was a tactic to shift attention away from what is really going on with most book challenges.

"No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in [the] children’s section of the library," Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois said.

"That’s a distraction from the real challenge. I understand and respect that parents may choose to limit what their children read, especially at younger ages," he continued. "But no parent should have the right to tell another parent’s child what they can and cannot read in school or at home. Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are."

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Others pointed out that book bans are largely targeting Black and LGBTQ+ history and representation.

"When I see books by some of the greatest authors – I see Frederick Douglass there, being taken off the shelf – that’s when I begin to worry that we’re falling into this trap where we are failing to do what is necessary to democracy, which [is] to create public forums, educational pathways that engender empathy and understanding," New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said. "That engender deep knowledge. That engender the kind of sentiment that is necessary for democracies to exist."

The hearing comes as Republican-led states are increasingly pushing measures to make it easier to challenge and remove books from school libraries, while Durbin's home state of Illinois has become the first to ban book bans.