In response to a “troubling rise” in public school employees facilitating students’ gender confusion—often behind parents’ backs—Texas lawmakers proposed several measures this year to ensure that children will not be socially transitioned in classrooms.
On Tuesday, members of the House Public Education Committee heard one of those measures: House Bill 1655 by State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth).
“We’ve seen a troubling rise in what society calls ‘gender-affirming care,’ but let’s be honest, what’s being affirmed is confusion, not truth,” Schatzline told committee members as he presented his bill.
“In some cases, teachers have been encouraged to withhold information from moms and dads,” he said. “This is not compassion, it’s deception, and it’s anti-parental rights, and it’s perpetuation of mental illness.”
HB 1655 would require public school districts to adopt policies that prohibit employees from assisting students with social transitioning.
The bill is endorsed by the Texas GOP under the legislative priority Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids.
Social transitioning refers to outward changes intended to convey that a person is the opposite sex.
Teachers and other school employees may facilitate students’ social transitions by referring to them using opposite-sex names and pronouns and pressuring other students to do the same, accepting cross-dressing, or allowing students to use bathrooms and other private spaces designated for the opposite sex.
Schatzline cited recent allegations that staff at Bellaire High School in Houston socially transitioned a student without parents’ knowledge or consent. Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Education Agency to investigate the case, but no law currently prohibits this behavior.
“HB 1655 draws a line in the sand. If a school violates this policy and participates in social transitioning, they will be held accountable, as they should,” said Schatzline. “Our children don’t need confusion, they need clarity. They don’t need gender ideology, they need identity rooted in truth.”
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D–Austin), a former Austin Independent School District trustee, asked Schatzline if teachers could transition students with parents’ approval.
“We don’t believe in lying to students,” replied Schatzline. “I definitely believe that teachers should be honest with students.”
Hinojosa then characterized Schatzline’s bill as “prosecuting teachers again.”
State Rep. Alan Schoolcraft (R–McQueeney) clarified that HB 1655 does not call for prosecuting teachers or any other school employees.
“The only enforcement is the attorney general being able to bring an action against the school district for an injunction and possibly a civil penalty. Nothing about teachers,” he said.
Several parents and advocates testified for and against HB 1655.
Texas parent and former teacher Christie Slape testified in support of HB 1655 on behalf of Moms for Liberty.
“There is a social contagion in Texas and all across America, and it’s called gender ideology. And it’s harming children and it’s tearing families apart, and it needs to stop. There are schools that are taking a role in this and perpetuating this idea that children can change who they are,” Slape told committee members.
“We also believe it is subversive and harmful for anyone to assume the role of confidant or to use in loco parentis to the extreme of affirming and guiding a child through social transitioning at school,” she added.
Vanessa Sivadge, founder of advocacy group Protecting Texas Children, testified that HB 1655 “addresses the growing concern of the social transitioning practice among minors in public schools.”
Sivadge is also the pediatric nurse who exposed Texas Children’s Hospital’s illegal Medicaid billing for “gender transition” treatments prescribed to kids.
“Social transitioning is often the first step in what can become a multi-stage process of gender transition for minors,” she told the committee.
“Individuals who participate in socially transitioning a child are complicit in the first step of enabling a child to embrace a lie. Once socially transitioned, children are far more likely to continue down the path toward a medical transition, which includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and in some cases, surgeries,” testified Sivadge.
“Of course, these medical interventions have lasting, damaging, and irreversible implications that can include infertility and sexual dysfunction,” she continued. “This cascade of harm, where a confused child is initiated down a path of chemical castration, starts with the practice of socially affirming their false identity.”
“This deceptive practice of psychologically grooming a child to hate the body they were born in is despicable and should have no place in the classroom,” added Sivadge.
Several “transgender” activists testified against HB 1655, as did Texas mom and former Eanes ISD librarian Carolyn Foote, who claimed the bill would “create a chilling effect” on teachers and school librarians.
Foote and two other activist librarians received an award from the American Library Association for defending students’ access to sexually explicit material, regardless of the students’ ages, and rejecting “censorship by parents.”
“This bill really should just clarify that our public schools are to just teach academic instruction and not gender and social identity issues,” State Rep. Helen Kerwin (R–Glen Rose) told Schatzline.
Schatzline said he agreed “wholeheartedly” with Kerwin’s sentiment but noted a separate measure, Senate Bill 12, addresses that issue.
“This bill ensures that teachers can focus on the MAIN thing,” Schatzline posted on X following Tuesday’s hearing. “Schools are meant for educating our kids, not indoctrinating them.”
HB 1655 was left pending in committee.
Time is running short for bills to complete the legislative process before the regular session ends on June 2.
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