The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, the University of North Texas, and the University of Houston each offer minors in LGTBQ studies.
According to the Texas A&M website, this minor explores “the ways in which gender and sexuality are socially constructed and offers a critical understanding on how sexuality and sexual orientation shape gender roles, identities, and social statuses in societies.” Its goal is to focus on “the history and practice of social activism,” and it also examines “homophobia and transphobia’s relationship to racism, colonialism, sexism, ableism, classism and other forms of power.”
A&M requires 15 credit hours to complete the minor, and required courses include “Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies” as well as “Queer Theory.”
Additional courses offered include “LGBTQ Literatures,” “Aesthetics of Activism,” and “Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Minority Experience.”
In order to receive credit for the minor at the University of North Texas, students need to take classes on “LGBTQ studies” and “Feminist and Womanist Theories.” Additional approved courses for the minor include “Texas LGBTQ History,” “Race, Gender and the Media,” “Sociology of Sexuality,” and “Gender & Society.”
The University of Houston requires a total of 18 credit hours for their “GLBT Studies” minor, including three hours of “Intro to GLBT Studies,” nine hours of GLBT advanced courses, three hours of “Women’s Gender & Sexuality” studies advanced courses, and three hours of GLBT elective courses. Some of the courses Houston offers to complete the 18 credit hours required are “Sociology of Gender,” “Queer Theory,” and “Gay and Lesbian Literature.”
Chaitanya Lakkimsetti, one of the lead creators for the minor at Texas A&M, believes “the minor equips students to understand gender, sex and sexuality not as fixed and rigid but as dynamic social concepts that are subject to resistance and change.”
Each of Texas’ public university systems is overseen by a board of regents appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
