A national education conference with a history of promoting critical race theory and LGBT topics in government schools will be held once again in Austin next week. In the past, four of Texas’ largest school districts have sent teachers to the event using tax dollars.
SXSW EDU is affiliated with the annual South by Southwest music festival and conference. The event is slated to take place in Austin from March 9-12.
According to the SXSW EDU website, the conference “has been a celebration of innovation, experimentation, and learning through a wide range of compelling sessions, in-depth workshops, engaging hands-on experiences, mentorship, film screenings, future-focused competitions, an expo, networking opportunities, performances, and so much more.”
The conference schedule includes several sessions on the topic of LGBT issues in classroom instruction. Meanwhile, Texas has been cracking down on left-wing indoctrination in K-12 education.
One of the workshops is entitled “Refusing Student Erasure: Educators vs. Anti-Trans Policies.” The workshop “prepares educators to navigate, challenge, and strategically resist the accelerating wave of anti-trans mandates reshaping classrooms across the United States.”
Taught by Sante Fe Community College professor and LGBT activist Dr. SJ Miller, the workshop will engage participants in “realistic, K-20 discipline-specific scenarios to examine what restrictive statutes attempt to limit and what possibilities remain” and will practice “methods to safeguard” LGBT students that “preserve the dignity, integrity, and transformative potential of their learning environments, even under intense political pressure.”
One of the featured sessions criticizes Texas’ ban of sexually explicit books in children’s libraries.
“Beyond Bans:Defending LGBTQ+ Stories & Literary Freedom” will explore “actionable solutions for preserving access to diverse stories, as discriminatory book bans continue to target LGBTQ+ literature and stories.”
A featured speaker on the session’s panel is American Librarian Association President Sam Helmick, who uses the pronouns they/them.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is another discussion topic that is being eliminated from government education in Texas. A new state law extended Texas’ DEI crackdown from higher education into K‑12 schools, banning the use of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in hiring and employment decisions and restricting DEI-related programs and trainings.
A panel titled “Demanding Diversity when Diversity is ‘Illegal’’’ claims that DEI crackdowns are evidence of racial segregation, when Texas’ DEI law is intended to ensure equal opportunities for students and teachers regardless of race.
“How can we successfully integrate schools when talking about the topic is taboo—or even described as illegal?” the description asks. “We’ll discuss how school segregation creates opportunity gaps and threatens democracy, and we’ll explore modern strategies—from litigation to magnet schools—to advance diversity amid this regression.”
An additional panel discussing DEI issues during the conference is “Standing Strong: Safeguarding DEI in Higher Education”, which encourages university educators to “remain resolute” in their stances regarding DEI instead of “capitulating to the fear-mongering attacks.”
Additional sessions will be held on the topic of both of these subjects under the tags “Lgbtqia+ issues” and “Social Justice.”
In 2022, Austin Independent School District, Fort Worth Independent School District, San Antonio Independent School District, and Round Rock Independent School District spent over $26,000 of taxpayer dollars to send staff to the conference.
