University is a haven for students to expand their breadth of knowledge and enrich their passions. They go to campus hoping to have a safe space where they are valued and respected on the most basic level — being addressed by their chosen name. For some students, this basic right is being stripped away.
Gov. Greg Abbott recently demanded an investigation after teachers at Bellaire High School were accused of supporting and aiding the transition of their students by calling them by their chosen names and pronouns. Since the incident, Abbott has called to prohibit the practice at schools. By declaring his protection of parental rights, he is in turn stripping the rights of the students.
Jonathan Espinoza, fourth-year rhetoric, language and political communication doctoral candidate, said this strike-down will exponentially harm the students affected.
“The denial of anybody’s identity is going to hurt them,” Espinoza said. “To not have that ability to be who you are in every kind of circumstance is going to be harmful to the person as they grow and become who they need to be.”
Abbott claims that parents are significantly affected because of schools’ support to transition their children without their knowledge. The rhetoric of this argument directly harms students because the denial of their identity can create emotional turmoil. When schools no longer serve as a safe space for students to be authentically themselves, it can also affect the quality of their education.
“It’s important for these students to have safe spaces everywhere,” Espinoza said. “If they can’t have that space at home, where else are they going to have it? The majority of their time is going to be at school.”
Without support in educational settings, transgender and queer individuals may be subjected to more violence later on. One in four transgender or genderqueer students have experienced a form of sexual assault in college. They are also more likely to experience intimate partner violence than their cisgender counterparts. This is thought to be because of control and autonomy being stripped from trans individuals, an issue that is only furthered by Abbott’s declaration.
Lauren Gutterman, associate professor of American studies and women, gender and sexuality studies, said the identities of young students should not continue to be used as a political tactic.
“This is part of a broader campaign that we’ve seen in Texas for years now, and at the federal level to eradicate trans people from public life to make their existence as difficult as possible,” Gutterman said.
Abbott’s acts along with his previous history of launching child abuse investigations and spreading misinformation, are continued attempts to erase the transgender identity as a whole. The simple gesture of calling someone by their chosen name is under attack, leaving students vulnerable.
“To be deadnamed can be really negating of someone’s identity,” Gutterman said. “And it can invite harassment against that student and it can make it really impossible for them to learn or to want to come to school if it’s going to be a place where their very existence, legitimacy of their identity, is ignored and denied.”
It is easy to feel hopeless while people in charge continue to make threatening movements to erase identities. Respect your classmates, stay updated with Texas politics and have hope for our future.
Lechner is a journalism and political communication sophomore from Rowlett, Texas.
