Several parents told board members that Keller school district’s proposal to ban nicknames and pronouns that not consistent with a student’s name and gender on their birth certificate is an attack on the LGBTQ students. The issue was a point of contention Thursday evening as the proposal — titled “identification of students” — was on the school board’s meeting agenda. A former Keller ISD student started the discussion, saying he felt the need to “speak up” for other students.
“These new policies being proposed by the board will be extremely harmful to our LGBTQ students,” the former student said. He — in addition to other Keller students who spoke at the meeting — added that the proposal forces children to come out to family members who may not be accepting of their identity, thus putting them at risk of being kicked out. “Not everyone has the luxury of a family who is loving or accepting of them, no matter their identity,” he said.
According to the proposal, staff and other school district employees “shall not promote, encourage, or require the use of pronouns that are inconsistent with a student’s or other person’s biological sex as it appears on the individual’s birth certificate.” The former student described to the board members that being referred to by one’s preferred pronouns is a “harmless gesture.” “All that is being done by purposely misgendering someone is telling them that they are not welcomed or accepted, a feelin.