A Texas public school district has decided to prohibit the use of pronouns that do not match students’ biological sex, regardless of their pronoun preferences or gender identity.
The controversial policy that the Keller Independent School District (ISD) adopted will require teachers to refer to students with pronouns correlating to the gender on their birth certificates, Fox 4 reported.
The rule also states that parents must be alerted if their children request to go by different names or pronouns at school and that parents must write a notice granting permission for schools to call their students by alternative names or pronouns.
Students have protested the policy, with one high school senior saying the district was prioritizing “a political agenda” during a public comment session.
“Every day I walk into a school and myself and my peers are suffering. It seems like more and more the school district is prioritizing budget cuts and a political agenda over the health of its students,” said Kennedy Schultz.
Madison Hickman, another senior, called it “hate.”
“You’ve created an environment where fear and isolation might just become the norm for our most vulnerable students. I hope this brings you the kind of community you’re striving for, one where conformity is valued over compassion. Hate is not a Keller ISD value,” she said.
Fox 4 also reported that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent the district a letter of concern, warning it that the policy is discriminatory, but the board passed it anyway.
Keller ISD also found itself in controversy in 2022 when it pulled dozens of books from shelves for review, including the Bible.