Texas school district enforces biology-based bathroom and pronoun policies
Briana Oser
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The public school board of Keller, Texas, passed policies on Wednesday limiting “preferred pronoun” requirements and banning people from using bathrooms or locker rooms that do not align with their biological sex.
The district’s new pronoun policy will not prohibit staff from using students’ “preferred pronouns.” It will only give educators a choice — they will not be forced to contradict the biological realities of their students.
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This step is a significant pushback against an ideology that is not safe for the mental or physical well-being of children. Statistics indicate that a more “accepting” society of LGBT people may not actually improve the mental health of those suffering gender dysphoria, and history suggests that allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and changing facilities opposite their biological sex is unsafe.
A precondition for any school district should be the well-being of its students. Otherwise, education becomes impossible. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas believes that the district’s new policies contradict this duty. According to the Dallas News, the ACLU said in a letter, “When school administrators misgender or deadname transgender students, it not only violates the law but can cause immense and irreparable trauma and harm and spur bullying and harassment from other students.”
To what extent is the ACLU’s position justified?
Gallup and countless other sources cite “acceptance” as the reason so many members of Generation Z are “coming out” as LGBT compared to members of other generations. The United States has a 72% acceptance rate of LGBT people, according to a Pew Research Center poll from 2019. In 2007, only 49% of people were accepting of the LGBT community.
But, we might ask: Why do so many LGBT members of Gen Z struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts despite the rate of LGBT “acceptance” in our society?
Dallas News quoted a 2022 statistic from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization for LGBT youth: “45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.”
And, those in Gen Z are about twice as likely as those who are older than 25 to experience clinical depression. As the Trevor Project statistic showed, LGBT people are more likely to deal with mental health concerns than straight people.
These statistics do not confirm causation between LGBT ideology and mental illness. But they do suggest that a more “accepting” society does not necessarily improve the mental or physical health of LGBT people.
In the past year or two, school policies have become increasingly “accepting” of transgender and nonbinary youth, allowing them to use restrooms that do not align with their biological sex. We have seen more and more incidents of sexual assault, harassment, and general violence in these schools.
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A 12-year-old girl was raped in her school bathroom by a transgender person in New Mexico. A “gender-fluid” person sexually assaulted his classmates in a women’s restroom in Virginia, and the school district ignored complaints. Transgender “girls” are beating up their female classmates. The list goes on.
Students need to be in a safe setting, one that is productive for their well-being, in order to learn. The Keller Independent School District wants to ensure that this environment is provided for them. Schools should fight against false notions of “acceptance” and oppose popular ideology that poisons minds.
Briana Oser is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.