Texas university to reportedly axe LGBTQ minor following criticism
Texas A&M University will reportedly be ending its LGBTQ minor following pushback from lawmakers.
State lawmakers began to call out the Lone Star state’s publicly funded…
Texas A&M University will reportedly be ending its LGBTQ minor following pushback from lawmakers.
State lawmakers began to call out the Lone Star state’s publicly funded university in mid-February after discovering it was offering a minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies, which allowed students to “examine the ways gender and sexuality are socially constructed.” Texas Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Texas A&M’s Chancellor John Sharp plans “to end it,” first announcing it on X.
“After months of calling for A&M to end this absurd program, I was pleased to learn from Chancellor Sharp they plan to end it. Proud to have helped deliver this victory for Texas taxpayers, who should never be forced to fund liberal indoctrination,” Harrison told the DCNF. “I look forward to further discussions with A&M and will continue fighting to keep taxpayers from funding leftist propaganda that does nothing to strengthen our economy or the workforce of tomorrow.”
The school website described the study as a way to “develop critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills,” additionally exploring issues like “homophobia and transphobia’s relationship to forms of power (colonialism, sexism, ableism, classism, etc.).” However, it appears the website has been taken down.
“You’ll critically analyze how sexuality and sexual orientation shape gender roles, identities, and social statuses in societies,” the website read. “Through these courses, you’ll develop an intricate and nuanced understanding of LGBTQ+ lived experiences, histories and social movements.”
Harrison previously told the Daily Caller that he had spoken with the Provost of Texas A&M Alan Sams, detailing the issues he had with the school providing the minor as a “taxpayer and someone with a fiduciary duty.”
“I communicated to him that as an Aggie, lawmaker in the state of Texas, taxpayer and someone with a fiduciary duty to make sure that tax money is only spent on a) things that are of value to the state of Texas and b) thing that are lawfully authorized and appropriated. I asked them to discontinue this minor or provide to me in writing a justification for this minor to be continued. The most charitable way to characterize the response is as a ‘non-response,” Harrison stated.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy had called out the minor stating the university needed to be “held accountable” for pushing “radical woke policies.”
“It’s time for Higher Education Institutions – including Texas A&M – to be held accountable for advancing radical woke policies – both in the Texas Legislature and Congress. Enough,” Roy told the Daily Caller in February.
Sharp did not immediately respond to DCNF’s request for comment.