Keller schools add ‘gender fluidity’ to topics that are off-limits in library books
Keller school board members voted Monday to add “gender fluidity” to a list of topics that are off-limits in library books and instructional materials.
The vote came after more than two hours of public comment, much of it about the proposal that adds one more category to a content guideline list adopted in August. That list already included topics such as profanity, horror, drug use and explicit sex.
Board members discussed the matter for about 20 minutes before voting 4-2 to adopt the change. Ruthie Keyes and Beverly Dixon voted no and Chris Roof abstained.
Dixon said she worried about the message the district was sending to transgender and non-binary students.
“If we remove everything that even mentions it, at the high school level, then what are we saying to them?” she said. “It’s not just a couple of kids, either. I don’t want any student to feel they’re not welcome in our schools.”
Board members in support of the ban said they wanted to keep politics and ideology out of the classroom.
Board member Sandi Walker said she will always “fight to protect a child’s innocence.”
“Discussions regarding gender and gender fluidity and other ideologies do not belong in the schools but in the homes,” she said.
According to the proposal, gender fluidity is “any theory or ideology” that includes the following:
- “Espouses the view that gender is merely a social construct.”
- “Espouses the view that it is possible for a person to be any gender or none based solely on that person’s feelings or preferences.”
- “Supports hormone therapy or other medial treatments or procedures to temporarily or permanently alter a person’s body or genetic make-up so that it ‘matches’ a self-believed gender that is different from the person’s biological sex (as determined by the person’s birth certificate made at or near the time of the person’s birth).”
The guidelines state that books recommended by universities or the Texas Virtual School Network, or tested through the College Board, are separate from the general library materials and are selected independently.
The policy followed a complaint from a parent that resulted in a Texas Education Agency investigation about library books with “sexually explicit content.” In October, the district removed “Gender Queer” from a school library after social media posts from parents.
Weeks later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked the TEA to investigate “criminal activity” related to pornography in public schools.
Ahead of the vote, the ACLU of Texas called the rationale behind the new policy “fundamentally flawed” and “particularly cruel” because it was considered during Trans Awareness Week. The group warned the policy would violate the First Amendment and legal protections for transgender and non-binary students.
“This policy seeks to erase transgender and non-binary identity,” it said in a statement. “It sends the message that transgender and non-binary students do not belong to the Keller ISD community.”
