Texas lawmaker ‘sneaks’ into university’s transgender event, exposes programs funded by taxpayers

(The Daily Signal) – Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison sounded the alarm after he “snuck” into a state-funded transgender conference at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, according to a string of posts on his X account.

“The Texas Government is promoting a radical, liberal agenda … with your tax dollars,” the Republican wrote on X, adding, “Prepare to be furious.”

The University of Texas at Austin receives tax dollars through the state through General Revenue, which accounted for over 10% of the university’s funding in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The first thing Harrison saw upon stepping onto campus was a promotional banner for “TRANSCENDENCE: A Century of Black Queer Ecstasy, 1924-2024,” according to one of his posts.

“TRANSCENDENCE” is an art collection organized around seven themes, according to UT Austin’s Art Galleries at Black Studies curator Phillip A. Townsend: “Portraiture, Beyond Figuration, Dance and Movement, Spirituality, Sex and Sensuality, Black Queer Futures, and Altered States.”

Townsend’s exhibit description explains, “Together these themes represent the foundations of queer, and especially Black queer, experiences and offer viewers a space to engage with artwork and ephemera that highlight an ecstatically abundant past and advocate for a more inclusive and equitable future.”

The art collection is on display at multiple exhibition locations at UT Austin until May 9.

Harrison said he walked around the campus, where he saw posters promoting “resources for trans folks,” how to be “inclusive of people’s pronouns,” and “Gender and Sexuality Center FYIs.” 

Harrison also noticed Mia Fischer’s book “Terrorizing Gender: Transgender Visibility and the Surveillance Practices of the U.S. Security State” is “prominently displayed in a glass case.” 

The campus hosts a Gender Studies library featuring books such as Deborah Rudacille’s “The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights” and Julia Serano’s “Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity.” 

UT Austin’s Rainbow Lounge is “a place for LGBTQ+ STEM students to connect and hang out,” according to a promotional flyer Harrison shared on X.

Harrison has been an outspoken advocate for defunding public Texas universities offering LGBTQ or “Sexualities Studies” programs. In a November 2024 interview on Inside Texas Politics, Harrison said, “If they have an LGBTQ minor, that is an abuse of taxpayer funding never authorized by the legislature and as far as I’m concerned, there have got to be consequences.”