IBL News | New York
The five universities of the Texas Tech system directed their faculty to comply with an executive order from President Trump, which recognizes only male and female genders.
The move, the first among large institutions of higher education, bans teaching about transgender and other gender topics. Currently, in K-12 classrooms, this is explicitly prohibited by Texas law.
Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell addressed the requirement in a letter dated last Thursday, citing President Trump’s order from January, a letter from Governor Greg Abbott that directed state agencies to follow Mr. Trump’s order, and a state law that requires government agencies to collect data on only two biological sexes, male and female.
“While recognizing the First Amendment rights of employees in their personal capacity, faculty must comply with these laws in the instruction of students, within the course and scope of their employment,” Mitchell wrote.
The letter followed the firing this month of a professor at Texas A&M who objected to a discussion of gender identity and then shared a video of the encounter with a Republican lawmaker. The university’s president, Mark Welsh, resigned soon after.
Other public universities and community colleges have been exploring similar changes regarding the teaching of gender, according to the Texas conference of the American Association of University Professors. The New York Times reported on it.
However, outside of Texas Tech, no institution appears to have put its guidance into writing yet.
Earlier this year, the Mississippi Legislature passed a law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as “promoting transgender ideology,” in the state’s schools and universities, but a federal judge put it on hold.