DALLAS — Discussions about gender identity in schools are likely targets for the upcoming legislative session as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott alluded to his support for stopping such “indoctrination.”
The Republican governor on Sunday tweeted a link to a Fox News article about a Fort Worth teacher who reportedly came out to students and staff as nonbinary and discussed it with the middle schoolers.
Abbott responded that lawmakers will “put a stop to this nonsense” during the session that starts Jan. 10.
“Schools must get back to fundamentals & stop pushing woke agendas,” he wrote. “We will pass laws to get it done.”
A spokeswoman for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity on what types of laws Abbott was referencing.
This is the latest of several moves by Republican lawmakers signaling an appetite for legislation that targets LGBTQ people, and discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation within schools.
Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he wants Texas to replicate Florida’s controversial “don’t say gay” law, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in the youngest grades. Patrick, also a Republican, controls the legislative direction of the Texas Senate as its president.
Tension over how to address gender and sexuality in schools has put students and teachers in the crosshairs of an increasingly bitter political fight.
Asked about the Fox News article, Fort Worth Independent School District spokeswoman Barbara Griffith said the district “addressed the incident when it took place in August, 2022.” She declined to elaborate.
Zeph Capo, president of the educator group Texas AFT, criticized the governor for “his quest to invent controversy” in schools.
“Greg Abbott has underfunded our schools and made them less safe,” Capo said in a statement. “And he makes them even more dangerous for teachers and their LGBTQIA+ students when he uses his platform to spread this hurtful nonsense.”
Nonbinary refers to a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman, or identifies as somewhere in between male and female. Many nonbinary people use they/them pronouns. Some, but not all, also identify as transgender, which refers to someone who identifies as a different gender than that assigned at birth.
One recent study estimated there are around 92,900 transgender adults in Texas, and nearly 30,000 between the ages 13 and 17.
During the GOP primary this year, Abbott ordered Child Protective Services to investigate reports of transgender kids receiving gender-affirming care. Although the investigations were put on hold for most families, at least 11 cases were opened and families of transgender children are fighting the directive in court.
Other Republicans have begun filing bills that would limit LGBTQ rights this year, with a particular focus on transgender Texans.
Members of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus pre-filed bills to expand restrictions on transgender athletes to the collegiate level and to prohibit minors receiving gender-affirming care like puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
Foreshadowing the direction conservative lawmakers might take, school trustees have already targeted LGBTQ issues locally.
In Keller, for example, the school board recently passed a policy prohibiting library books across all grade levels that include the discussion of gender fluidity. Grapevine-Colleyville trustees, meanwhile, determined that district staff should not talk about sexual orientation or gender identity until after a child has finished fifth grade. Teachers in the Grapevine-Colleyville district also aren’t required to address students by pronouns inconsistent with their biological sex.
Drag queen shows are also a likely target after repeated protests by anti-LGBT groups calling for children to be banned from such performances.
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(Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy contributed to this article.)
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