Texas DEI Ban: A Deep Dive
By Darius Spearman (africanelements)
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Texas Expands DEI Ban to K-12 Schools
Texas has expanded its ban on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to K-12 public schools through Senate Bill 12 (SB12). This move has sparked legal challenges and raised significant concerns among educators and advocacy groups (wfaa.com). DEI initiatives in education generally aim to promote representation, fairness, and inclusive environments for all students and staff. However, recent legislative actions in some states, such as Texas, have targeted and restricted these initiatives, particularly in K-12 and higher education.
Senate Bill 12, which recently went into effect, prohibits DEI from being used in hiring at K-12 schools. Furthermore, it bans lessons on sexuality and gender identity (wfaa.com). The bill also disallows after-school clubs focused on sexuality and gender identity, such as Gay-Straight Alliances. Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student-led clubs that provide a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students and their allies. These clubs often serve as crucial spaces for fostering inclusivity, promoting understanding, and offering peer support. Research indicates that GSAs are incredibly beneficial to the well-being of LGBTQ+ students (glsen.org). The ban on GSAs under SB12 signifies a direct impact on these supportive student networks, potentially leading to increased feelings of isolation and reduced access to vital resources for LGBTQ+ youth.
Legal Challenges and Constitutional Concerns
The ACLU of Texas and the Transgender Law Center have filed a lawsuit arguing that Senate Bill 12 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Equal Access Act (wfaa.com). The Equal Access Act is a federal law that requires public secondary schools receiving federal funds to provide equal access to extracurricular student groups, including those with religious, political, philosophical, or other content, without discrimination based on the content of their speech. This act is often invoked in legal challenges concerning student clubs. Although updated Title IX guidance solidifying protections for LGBTQ+ students has been blocked from taking effect in some states and school districts, LGBTQ+ students in those schools still have rights under Title IX (southernequality.org).
Senator Creighton, a proponent of anti-DEI legislation, filed SB12 to ban DEI programs and staffing in public K-12 education, similar to the previous SB17 for higher education (wfaa.com). Another bill, SB1565, allows parents to file complaints if they believe their child's school is promoting DEI (wfaa.com). Lawmakers supporting SB12 and SB1565 view them as an extension of the state's ban on teaching “critical race theory” in K-12 public schools and the prohibition of DEI programs in Texas' public universities (krgv.com). Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic framework that examines how race and racism have shaped legal systems and societal structures in the United States. The reference to bans on teaching CRT as an extension of DEI prohibitions in Texas legislation indicates its controversial nature within the state.
Key Terms in Texas DEI Legislation
Initiatives aimed at promoting representation, fairness, and inclusive environments in education. These are the primary targets of recent Texas legislation.
An academic framework examining how race and racism have shaped legal systems and societal structures. Bans on CRT are seen as extensions of DEI prohibitions in Texas.
A federal law requiring public secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular student groups, regardless of their content, without discrimination.
Impact on Higher Education and Student Well-being
The implementation of DEI bans in Texas, particularly Senate Bill 17 (SB17) for higher education, has already led to significant consequences. These include layoffs and a loss of resources for students. As a result of SB17, the Texas NAACP confirmed 66 layoffs within the University of Texas system as of April 2 (foghornnews.com). The actual number may be higher as UT has not announced exact figures.
DEI centers across Texas colleges and universities have been closed down to ensure compliance with SB17 (foghornnews.com). This has led to a significant loss of resources and community support for a variety of students, not just minority students. The previous law banning diversity offices, programs, and training at publicly-funded universities has caused confusion and fear among university employees and students (krgv.com). This has caused colleges to shutter DEI offices and efforts. A study found that 52% of LGBTQ+ college students surveyed considered leaving their school after the law went into effect, and 78% considered leaving Texas entirely (ketr.org). Among staff and faculty surveyed, about a quarter considered leaving Texas, and over three-quarters reported being “negatively impacted” by the anti-DEI law (ketr.org).
Impact of Anti-DEI Law on LGBTQ+ College Students and Staff
Concerns for Curriculum and Educators
The anti-DEI legislation is raising concerns about its impact on curriculum, particularly regarding historical events and the overall learning environment for students. Educators express concern that SB12 impacts how they can teach about historical events (wfaa.com). This makes it difficult to explain topics like the abolitionist movement without going into detail about sensitive subjects. Dr. Bill Chriss noted, “How do you explain how the abolitionist movement came about to abolish slavery unless you go into some detail about how slavery was?” (wfaa.com). This sentiment highlights the challenge of providing a comprehensive and accurate historical education under these new restrictions.
There are fears that educators may quit in large numbers as schools overcorrect to comply with the law (wfaa.com). This is especially true with provisions allowing parents to report perceived violations. An Equality Texas study indicates that many LGBTQ+ students have considered leaving their schools and even the state entirely since Senate Bill 17 went into effect (ketr.org). LGBTQ+ students and their allies worry that proposed DEI bans in public schools and other related bills threaten their mental health and sense of safety (texastribune.org). They are concerned that the legislation could silence supportive teachers, dismantle safe spaces, lead to overenforcement, and prevent honest conversations about identity under pressure to comply with state and federal laws (texastribune.org).
Navigating Compliance and Financial Implications
Despite legislative bans, there are ongoing discussions and reports about how some Texas public universities are still navigating and implementing DEI-related policies. A report sought to quantify “the financial implications of these DEI mandates on students and state taxpayers” at institutions like Texas Tech University, the University of Texas-Austin and El Paso campuses, and the University of Houston-downtown (thecentersquare.com). The report highlights the cost to taxpayers in thousands of dollars per student to comply with DEI credit requirements in Texas (thecentersquare.com).
Senate Bill 12 is part of a broader legislative effort targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and their rights in educational settings. While the full scope of SB12’s provisions, including specific details on parental rights, social transitioning, and disciplinary measures for staff, is not explicitly detailed, it is understood to be a significant piece of legislation impacting K-12 public schools. Social transitioning refers to the process by which transgender individuals begin to live in accordance with their affirmed gender identity in social settings. This can involve changing pronouns, names, clothing, and other outward expressions to align with their gender. The inclusion of “social transitioning” in the bill’s context suggests that the legislation aims to restrict or regulate this process for students within schools. State leaders have increasingly targeted LGBTQ+ Texans through legislation in recent years (texastribune.org). In 2023, lawmakers passed a wave of new laws affecting the community, including prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and barring trans athletes from participating in certain college sports teams (texastribune.org).
Timeline of Texas Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
Broader Educational and Societal Implications
The constant efforts to censor and whitewash education raise questions about the quality of learning in Texas public schools and universities. The concern is that the state legislature is shaping a curriculum not based on historical fact, but instead intended to indoctrinate students with a particular ideology. This is deeply ironic, considering that the state legislators who authored the bills argued they were designed to prevent political ideology from being taught in classrooms.
It is one thing to implement a politically neutral curriculum. It is another thing entirely to deny support for Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ children in public schools and to outright censor curriculum in public universities. The sociopolitical discourse surrounding CRT and similar topics can significantly impact the mental health of LGBTQ+ adolescents, who are often highly aware of policy changes affecting their communities (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Adolescents today have unprecedented and uninterrupted access to news and current events through broadcast and social media (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). LGBTQ+ adolescents may be especially cognizant of media and public discourse pertaining to law and policy changes affecting the legal rights of their communities (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The minority stress framework explains how sociopolitical discourse impacts mental health among sexual and gender minority youths (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
LGBTQ+ College Student Concerns Post-DEI Ban
- 52% Considered Leaving School
- 78% Considered Leaving Texas
- Remaining Students (Not Considering Leaving Texas)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darius Spearman has been a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.
