ACLU files civil rights complaints against Keller, Frisco schools over transgender issues
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed civil rights complaints Monday afternoon, alleging that the Keller and Frisco school districts adopted harmful and unlawful anti-trans policies in violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs that receive federal funds.
The ACLU complaints, filed with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, followed school board meetings last week in which Keller voted to ban library books on all grade levels on gender fluidity and Frisco trustees voted to limit “multi-occupancy restroom” use to the person’s biological sex.
The complaints allege that the school districts adopted harmful, discriminatory policies in violation of federal law.
The ACLU announced the complaints in a Twitter thread, which read in part that “School boards do not have the power to strip students’ federal rights.”
In the complaint against Keller, the ACLU stated that the board amended its library content guidelines to prohibit and remove library materials that adopt, promote or support the depiction of gender fluidity.
“This policy seeks to erase transgender and nonbinary identities in particular and sends the message that transgender and nonbinary students do not belong in the Keller ISD’s community,” the complaint reads.
In the complaint against the Frisco schools, the ACLU stated that school district staff is invading transgender students’ privacy by limiting their access to restrooms.
Without civil right intervention the policy adopted by Frisco will harm transgender, non-binary, gender- diverse and intersex students and “substantially invade their privacy.”
Representatives from the school districts could not immediately be reached for comment. The districts are on Thanksgiving break.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 1:34 PM.