Texas school board votes to limit discussion on ‘gender fluidity,’ nonbinary pronouns, critical race theory
A school board in North Texas has passed a wide-ranging set of policies limiting the discussion of gender identity and limiting the teaching of critical race theory in schools
The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD), a public school district between Dallas and Forth Worth, voted 4-3 on the new guidelines late on Monday after a contentious four-hour meeting.
The policies provide more oversight of library materials and state that individuals in district schools can only use restroom facilities that align with their sex assigned at birth.
According to the policy, teachers and school staff members “shall not teach, instruct, train or otherwise promote gender fluidity” — which is defined by the board as “any theory of ideology that espouses the view that biological sex is merely a social construct; espouses the view that this it is possible for a person to be any gender or none (i.e., non-binary) based solely on that person’s feelings or preferences; or espouses the view that an individual’s biological sex can be changed to “match” a self-believed gender that is different from the person’s biological sex.”
That would effectively ban the discussions on transgender issues in schools.
The policy also states that “the district will not promote, require, or encourage the use of titles or pronoun identifiers for students, teachers or any other persons in any manner that is inconsistent with the biological sex of such person” as listed on a person’s birth certificate.
BREAKING: the Grapevine-Colleyville school district board (GCISD), my hometown public school which recently elected a conservative majority, is proposing new guidelines for the district. This includes a ban on any discussion of what they define as "Gender Fluidity."
1/ pic.twitter.com/xFQn1f8omp— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) August 19, 2022
That means that GCISD teachers will no longer be required to address students by pronouns matching their gender identity — even if their parents or legal guardians chose to do so.
According to the Texas Tribune, the district added two conservative members to its seven-board member in May.
Both of them — Shannon Braun and Kathy Florence Spradley — received donations from Patriot Mobile, a Christian cellphone company that has worked to defeat any school board candidate who supports LGBTQ-themed books or critical race theory.
Monday night’s vote came after comments from almost 200 speakers, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD school board voted 4-3 to pass egregious policies to bring ‘Don’t Say Gay’ rules to Texas and restrict students’ access to an inclusive education — violating their First Amendment rights. @GCISD students deserve better. https://t.co/ZEKRz8nQvt
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) August 23, 2022
LGBTQ rights advocates slammed the “egregious” policies, saying that they restrict students’ access to inclusive education and violate their First Amendment rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said that the district’s “blatantly anti-LGBTQIA+ policy” seeks to deny that transgender people exist; allows teachers to misgender students; and “brings a ‘Dont’ Say Gay’ rule to Texas,” referring to Florida’s controversial anti-LGBTQ legislation was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March despite fierce opposition by critics.
“In order to thrive in a democratic society, students require an accurate and inclusive education so that they better understand the lives, cultures, and experiences of different people,” the organization said in a statement. “This includes learning about the history of and discussing race, gender, and systemic inequity.”
