Rating: Transneutral, Houston Chronicle, August 28, 2023 (PDF archive) (HTML archive) (Take Action)
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Content Summary
Katy ISD’s controversial proposed transgender policy draws hundreds
Katy ISD staff must now inform parents whose children ask to be identified as transgender, after the board of trustees on Monday narrowly passed a new official policy containing a number of restrictions regarding students’ gender identity.
Following impassioned speeches by more than 100 speakers during the meeting’s public comment section, the board passed the measure with a 4-3 vote.
The policy also mandates that staff use pronouns that correlate to the sex listed on a child’s birth certificate unless they have written parental consent.
Instruction on “Gender Fluidity” is now strictly prohibited in classrooms, and students must now use bathrooms, locker rooms, and other “sex-specific spaces” that correspond to their biological sex.
Former Katy ISD teacher Megan Lopez condemned the measure Monday, recalling that a former student once confided in her that he was transgender and she was able to keep his confidence. “This policy is against everything I believe in,” Lopez said.
Speaker Claudia Turcott praised the board members for their move to instigate the policy and pleaded with them to pass it. “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth,” Turcott said. “As valiant defenders of the truth, I hope you are getting comfortable with people hating you.”
The policy has sparked controversy across the student body as well, said Savannah Bayles a student at Tompkins High School. Bayles signed up to speak at the meeting, stating that she’s never spoken in public before, but she felt compelled to go before the board after news of the potential policy spread through her school. “My friend showed me an article about the policy, and I got extremely angry,” Bayles said. “I could not sit by and let this happen.”
Community member Simon Lin spoke in favor of the policy, arguing that minors cannot get birth control without parental consent, so parents should have similar authority over their child’s sexual identity.
Some speakers had harsh words for the board of trustees. “This will weaponize our teachers under the guise of protecting our children,” said Tana Weiss, Katy ISD parent. “This is not protecting our children, this is injecting venom into our beloved school district.”
Veteran board members Rebecca Fox, Lance Redmon and Dawn Champagne voted against the policy, calling the measure “vague” and “confusing,” and arguing that children should be able to speak to their teachers about gender without fear that their teacher will inform their parents of the conversation.
Newly elected members Morgan Calhoun, Mary Ellen Cuzela and Amy Thieme, alongside board president Victor Perez, voted in favor of the measure, citing “parental rights” as their primary concern.
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