Twelve-year-old Minerva James just started 7th grade at her North Texas middle school.
She does well and likes her classes. This year, she was thinking about pushing her district to allow a GSA, or Gay-Straight Alliance club — something she says her school could use.
"There's a lot of like, homophobia and stuff like that," she said.
Minerva came out in third grade. At her parents' request, we've changed her name for this story.
But under Senate Bill 12, authored by Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, all student clubs "based on sexual orientation or gender identity" will be banned statewide after the law goes into effect Sept. 1.
"Now that like, there's something to back up the homophobic kids, we don't have anything that could ... actually support us," Minerva said. "And now that that's, like, illegal, it's frustrating."
Especially because, even before SB12 was signed into law, Minerva said she and friends were already picked on — by both students and teachers — in their conservative school district.
"My friend group, we have a lot of like gay kids and no trans kids but lots of gay kids," she said. "We have very limited resources to actually talk and act like ourselves."
To supporters of SB12, the measure doesn't hurt kids. Rather, they say it empowers parents and eliminates Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and policies.
"Every minute that we spend on woke DEI indoctrination is a minute that we are not teaching a child how to read, or how to do math," State Board of Education Trustee Julie Pickren told state senators as she testified in support of the bill earlier this year.
But Madeline, a college freshman who turns 19 this month, disagrees. She's a trans woman who came out in her not-so-tolerant North Texas high school a few years ago. We're only using her first name for privacy concerns.
Madeline said the new law rubber-stamps the anti-gay and anti-trans bias she experienced throughout school.
"Whether or not they want to say being trans is a sexual thing, none of us view it that way. We view it as living our true selves," she said. "And we view it as keeping kids safe when they're so often rejected by their families for being this way."
Madeline said she grew up in an accepting, religious home – but she knows many other trans students don't. Research shows they face a higher risk of depression, anxiety and suicide.
Madeline's mother, Jennifer, worried about her daughter and is now also concerned about other LGBTQ+ students under SB12. Jennifer used to teach in public schools and was also a GSA advisor.
"I'm no longer in K-12, so I can speak. I couldn't have even done this interview two years ago," she said. "The kids had a target on their back. And when they had a GSA club, they could find community with each other even if they had a non-affirming family or non-affirming church."
Now, Jennifer hopes non-school organizations will create off-campus GSA clubs, where they're still legal.
Aside from parents and students, schools must now bear the brunt of compliance with SB 12.
The new law also gives parents access to all their student's curriculum and books — plus, their mental, emotional and physical health records. Parents will also be alerted if their kid asks to go by a nickname or a different pronoun. Teachers who don't comply can be disciplined.
Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said some of Senate Bill 12 is clear, like prohibiting "assistance with social transitioning." Other parts can be vague. "Where we're vague, we are always going to fall back on what we think is best for the student," she said. And there's a lot of areas that are really vague." She says DISD will do its best to comply with the law while still supporting students.
"We want to make sure that all our kids are getting the kind of support from our counselors that they may need," Elizalde said. While that won't include likes of Gay Straight Alliance clubs, students like 7th grader Minerva James say they'll still support each other, despite SB12.
"We have a single lunch table that fits 10 kids that we have to cram as many kids that need allies and support into," she said.
Bill Zeeble is KERA's education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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