Fort Bend Independent School District trustees voted to approve a policy aimed at protecting students from gender indoctrination through changes to curriculum, teacher responsibilities, and regulations governing athletics, bathrooms, and locker rooms.
During Monday night’s board meeting, trustees voted to approve a new gender policy, which includes several key protections for district students.
For students, the policy requires athletic participation to be based on biological sex. In other words, male students identifying as female will be prohibited from competing in girls’ sports.
The policy also mandates that bathrooms and locker rooms remain designated exclusively for individuals of a single biological sex, preventing biological males from entering female facilities and vice versa.
Teachers are prohibited from asking students for their preferred pronouns under the new policy.
Additionally, schools will be required to notify the parents of any student requesting name or pronoun changes that do not align with their biological sex.
The policy also bars district staff from diagnosing gender dysphoria, reinforcing that the district is not to act as a healthcare provider for students without parental consent.
In terms of curriculum, the policy specifies that instructional materials may not promote gender fluidity or related concepts. Any such materials currently in use are to be removed from classrooms.
The board voted 5-2 in favor of the policy, which went into effect immediately.
In February, the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District adopted a similar policy to Fort Bend’s. That policy requires parental notification of any changes to a student’s name, pronouns, or gender identity, protects bathroom and locker room access based on biological sex, excludes gender identity curriculum from acceptable classroom materials unless explicitly approved by the board, and bars biological males from competing in female sports.
Katy ISD also passed a similar policy in 2023, which later triggered a federal investigation.
