Texas school district restricts bathroom use to biological sex, won’t require staff to use preferred pronouns

A Texas school district unanimously passed two gender policies, keeping bathroom and locker room use based on birth sex, and preventing faculty from being forced to use students preferred pronouns.

The Keller Independent School Board decided on the policies at a meeting last week, which lasted over three hours with more than 50 people signed up to speak, according to Texas Scorecard.

“The District will maintain restrooms, locker rooms, and similar facilities separated by biological sex,” the “Facility Standards” policy reads, according to a board document. “Individuals are expected to use the facility corresponding to their gender assigned at birth unless a reasonable accommodation is granted for students seeking privacy.”

The other policy, titled “Identification of Students,” restricts preferred pronoun usage.

“District employees will not promote or require the use of pronouns that are inconsistent with an individual’s biological sex as it appears on the individual’s birth certificate,” the policy reads.

When the new policies were previewed on June 20, the ACLU of Texas sent a letter to Keller ISD officials claiming the policies violate Title IX, a federal law, and accuses the district of “try[ing] to exclude transgender students from sex-segregated facilities that align with their gender identity.”

However, board members voted 5-0 to implement the new policies, with one member, Ruthie Keyes, abstaining.

Local resident and President of True Texas Project Fran Rhodes called the policies “common sense.”

“Common sense and grassroots activists prevailed at last night’s Keller school board meeting,” Rhodes said, according to the Scorecard. “Students will continue to use the correct bathroom or locker room, and no one will be required to use pronouns or names they don’t want to use.”

The new policies will take effect immediately.