Students in the Austin Independent School District can collect Pride flags and pronoun buttons this week as they celebrate LGBTQ students and work toward creating an inclusive environment. It’s the eighth year the district has held Pride Week, which includes lessons on diversity and acceptance.
“The Texas Legislature has made it clear that when it comes to sex education, parents—not school districts—are in charge,” the letter states. Paxton noted parents could file complaints against the school district.
About 45 minutes after Paxton’s office tweeted out the letter, the school district’s superintendent, Stephanie Elizalde, tweeted back: “I want all our LGBTQIA+ students to know that we are proud of them and that we will protect them against political attacks.”
I want all our LGBTQIA+ students to know that we are proud of them and that we will protect them against political attacks. https://t.co/fNGiaoNM3q
— Dr. Stephanie S. Elizalde (@AustinISDsupt) March 23, 2022
District spokesman Jason Stanford told The Washington Post the celebration will continue as planned. “We’re going to react to this by doubling down on making sure our kids feel safe and celebrating Pride,” Stanford said.
He called the attorney general’s letter politically motivated, noting that Paxton faces a primary runoff in May against another Republican, George P. Bush. The attorney general also has been dogged by a federal probe into whether he committed bribery and abused his office. He has denied the allegations.
“This is not a parental rights issue,” Stanford said. “This is a Ken Paxton trying to score political points issue.”
Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. Aside from noting that parents could file complaints with the school board and the Texas Education Agency, it’s unclear whether Paxton will take action against the district.
The letter marks the second time in recent weeks that Paxton has set his sights on matters affecting LGBTQ children in the state. Last month, Paxton issued an opinion that some gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender children constituted “child abuse” under Texas law. Days later, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered state agencies to conduct investigations into parents who allow their children to undergo the care.
A judge temporarily blocked the policy, and Paxton has since asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the ban, the Texas Tribune reported.
Critics, including President Biden, have called the policy politically motivated. Abbott will face former Democratic congressman Beto O’Rourke in a November election. Asked about the politics of the transgender policy, a senior adviser for Abbott’s reelection campaign said he considered it “a 75, 80 percent winner” for the governor, The Post reported.
In his letter to the Austin school district, Paxton cited reports that students were participating in “community circles,” which he characterized as group discussions that students are supposed to keep confidential, “presumably from parents.”
He wrote that the district was, at worst, “cynically pushing a week-long indoctrination of your students that not only fails to obtain parental consent, but subtly cuts parents out of the loop.”
Confidentiality terms set in the discussion circles were meant to allow students to speak freely without the fear of getting teased by other students, Stanford said: “Never in a million years are we telling these kids not to tell things to their parents.”
Administrators at Doss Elementary School in Austin had their personal information posted online and also received death threats this week after the school’s Pride Week agenda was shared on Twitter, KUT reported. The students were forced to celebrate indoors as police were posted outside, Stanford said.
“The kids had no idea what was going on, but the teachers were afraid to go to work,” Stanford added. “So the last thing we’re worried about is what Ken Paxton has to say.”