A school district in Texas has enacted a ban on men participating in women’s sports as well as a ban on the use of preferred pronouns in the classroom.
Approved by a vote of 4-3, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District board voted on Monday night that teachers do not have to address students by their preferred pronouns and that transgender students will be barred from playing in sports not corresponding to their biological gender.
“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,” the new policy states.
The policy also states that teachers will have the “discretion” in deciding to use a preferred pronoun if the child’s parents insist upon the pronoun being used. Teachers or staff will also not be allowed to teach about sexual orientation or discuss gender fluidity.
Board member Casey Ford said the new policy reflects the wishes of the community.
“These policies are the product of input from several groups — the board’s policy committee, the district’s attorneys, the board’s attorneys, a committee of administrators and principals and, most importantly, community members,” Ford said. “But one group that’s had the most input and influence: the Texas state Legislature.”
Board member Becky St. John, who voted against the policy, disagreed, saying that the policy will “harm students in the classroom [and] overburden our teachers for a political agenda.”
According to the Texas Tribune, the Grapevine-Colleyville district in a wealthy suburb of Dallas shifted rightward this past May when Tammy Nakamura and Kathy Florence Spradley were voted in as members of the school board, both of whom “received donations from the Christian cellphone company Patriot Mobile, which has targeted the defeat of any school board candidate who endorses what the company calls ‘critical race theory’ and ones who support books about LGBTQ identities, saying that kids were exposed to ‘explicit, woke books.'”
Parent Mike Sexton spoke at the board meeting and argued that the policy would be used to discriminate against LGBTQ students.
“You can talk about Santa Claus, but you can’t talk about gay people to fifth graders,” Sexton said. “This is incredible — you’re acting like people don’t exist. There’s thousands of people in this district that are LGBTQ, that live here, that are taxpayers.”
However, another woman whose grandchildren attend schools in the district spoke in favor of the sports policy, which says that all athletic events are “designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.”
“The policy on the agenda tonight that keeps girls competing against biological girls is very important to me,” the grandmother said. “I want to make sure that my granddaughters can enjoy the fruits and labor of my generation by participating in fair competitive sports.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said that the new policies will stunt the mental growth of students.
“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. “This includes learning about the history of and discussing race, gender, and systemic inequity.”
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