Keller, Texas schools ban LGBTQ pronoun, bathroom accommodations

Students’ gender at birth will now determine restroom and pronoun use at a Texas school district, where LGBTQ accommodations have been banned.

Conservative board members at the Keller Independent School District voted that students in the Dallas suburb must use the restroom or locker room that “corresponds to their gender assigned at birth,” according to the Dallas Morning News.

A single-user restroom can be offered as an alternative.

“This policy allows students, teachers and staff the freedom to use pronouns as they deem appropriate,” one supporter of the new policy told the local Fox station.

“It also allows students, teachers and staff the freedom not to participate in preferred pronoun usage. I call that a win-win.”

Birth gender will also determine if a student is called a “he” or “she” at Keller schools — ending the use of preferred pronouns for transgender students.

The policy change takes place immediately and is similar to one adopted by the neighboring Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.

Both school boards have seen a wave of Republican board members elected in recent years.

“No one should be forced to use language that’s contrary to their personal beliefs,” said one parent who spoke at Wednesday night’s board meeting.

“Everyone can make that decision for themselves, but district policy should not force the use of pronouns on anyone.”

However, the policy is already drawing challenges from groups like the ACLU.

The liberal group previously filed federal civil rights complaints against Keller ISD over a different policy that bans library books at all grade levels that include the topic of “gender fluidity.”

“This policy seeks to erase transgender and non-binary identity,” the ACLU stated.

“It sends the message that transgender and non-binary students do not belong to the Keller ISD community.”