They Are Ignoring The Law!

Supreme Court rulings and laws mean nothing to the Republicans... nothing gets in the way of their agenda!

Texas legislature passes 'Don't Say Gay' law that bans LGBTQ+ student clubs

A bill approved by the Texas legislature includes an LGBTQ+ student club ban, a forced outing policy, and a DEI ban.

The Advocate

By Ryan Adamczeski

June 03 2025

The Texas legislature has passed a "Don't Say Gay" bill that not only bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, but goes even further by completely outlawing LGBTQ+ student clubs.

Senate Bill 12, introduced by Republican state senator Brandon Creighton, flatly states that "a school district or open-enrollment charter school may not authorize or sponsor a student club based on sexual orientation or gender identity." The law bans all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which it incorrectly defines as "differential treatment" based on race.

The bill also contains a forced outing policy "prohibiting an employee of the district from assisting a student enrolled in the district with social transitioning," which it defines as "a person’s transition from the person’s biological sex at birth to the opposite biological sex through the adoption of a different name, different pronouns, or other expressions of gender that deny or encourage a denial of the person’s biological sex at birth."

The Republicans passed a law that they know is against the law... but is keystone in their battle to suppress us!

The law is similar to Florida's colloquially named "Don't Say Gay" bill which prohibits public school staff from discussing LGBTQ+ identities in any capacity. Texas' S.B. 12 states that "a school district, open-enrollment charter school, or district or charter school employee may not provide or allow a third party to provide instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade."

That means organizations like Stonewall Speakers here in Connecticut. The Republicans know if you learn next to a person for twelve years and get to know them that you will not hate them. 

“Let’s be clear: Senate Bill 12 is not about protecting students — it’s about enforcing a narrow vision of who belongs in our state," they said. "This bill not only violates students’ constitutional rights, it also aims to censor the truth, whitewash history, and punish educators for fostering a welcoming environment where every student can thrive. ... Our students and educators deserve so much better.”

Lets look at the law... I am not a lawyer but I can read. And article in Phi Delta Kappan, "Federal law protects student clubs — even ones you don’t like" writes,

If a school district allows students to form noncurricular clubs, it must allow all clubs.

When high school students seek to start a controversial club on campus, their youthful ambition might ignite a local firestorm. Their right to proceed, however, is firmly protected by federal law.

The Equal Access Act (EAA), a student-friendly statute, has existed for more than 30 years. Yet, some educators still flinch when envisioning teens pursuing conversations or activities they find despicable. That hardheaded instinct to control student clubs has recently revived unnecessary scuffles

That seem pretty straight forward... "If a school district allows students to form noncurricular clubs, it must allow all clubs." That is kind hard to interpret "except for LGBTQ+ groups" out of it.

 Most significant is the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case, Board of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens. Bridget Mergens wanted to start an after-school Christian club and have it treated the same as other groups at her Nebraska high school. The district refused, citing the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits schools from endorsing religious activities. Justices ruled 8-1 for Mergens, saying the Equal Access Act protected her club. The high court stressed that EAA serves a nonreligious purpose because it also protects political, philosophical, and other types of speech.

You see the religious-right fought a battle for religious after school clubs and they won a Pyrrhic victory because now they have to include us... LGBTQ+ clubs, something the law markers in Texas in their animosity against us overlooked.

And now you will understand why Texas and the Republican states are so gung-ho on school vouchers,

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights

Through voucher programs, private schools receive public funding even as they fail to protect the most vulnerable students from discrimination.

The Center for American Progress

By Bayliss Fiddiman & Jessica Yin

May 13, 2019

Since Betsy DeVos became the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, she has continued to push for a federally funded private school voucher program. These programs currently exist in 29 states and provide state support—through direct payments or tax credits—for students to attend private schools. (see text box) Voucher supporters such as Secretary DeVos describe vouchers as providing parents with freedom of choice in education. However, some states have historically used private school voucher programs as a means to avoid racially integrating schools, as occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. More recently, evidence has shown that these programs are not effective at improving educational achievement. Recent evaluations of certain voucher programs have shown no improvement in achievement or a decline in achievement for students who use them. For example, a Center for American Progress analysis found that the overall effect of the D.C. voucher program on students’ math achievement is equivalent to missing 68 days of school. Voucher programs are also not a viable solution in many rural areas of the country because these programs can strain funding resources in communities that already have lower densities of students and schools. Public funding should be used to ensure that all students have access to a quality public education, but voucher programs divert funding away from public schools. There have been a number of reports detailing how voucher programs provide public funding to schools that can legally remove or refuse to serve certain students altogether.5 This issue brief provides a comprehensive analysis of the various ways that voucher programs fail to provide the civil rights protections that students have in public schools.

 Vouchers fit the bill to discriminate legally. And private schools do not have to obey the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act either. EdTrust writes that,

Every public school in the state is, on average, receiving $300,000 less in state funding because of the voucher program’s growing costs.

It is the upper middle-class and above who are using the vouchers and the majority of them were sending their children already to private schools.

The Republicans never gave up with Jim Crow laws they just are looking for ways to new ways segregate the non-Whites and foreigners from them and bring back the two tiered educations systems one for the "have nots" and one for the lily white private schools. The National Education Association writes that...

On all counts, vouchers harm public education and students. Vouchers steal scarce funding from public schools [Their emphasis]—which serve 90 percent of students—and give it to private schools that are unaccountable to taxpayers.  

There is ZERO reliable evidence that voucher programs improve overall student success, and some programs have even shown to have a NEGATIVE effect for students receiving a voucher.

Vouchers continue to discriminate against students with disabilities, strip away students’ human and civil rights, and exacerbate racial segregation.

The Republicans are doing everything to get around the Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. Their latest attempt is the law discriminating against us by banning anything about us being taught or even mentioned... forcing us back in to the sleazy bars, and into the closet again. They believe in a two tier education system. One for the "Haves" and one for the "Have Nots"