Senate Bill 12 would ban teaching gender identity and sexual orientation, while requiring parents to opt their children into sex education.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House and Senate voted Saturday evening to give final approval to a bill that extends the state’s ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to more than 1,200 K-12 public school districts across Texas.
Senate Bill 12 now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature, after the Senate voted 20-11 and the House voted 77-40 to accept the conference committee report on Saturday. The wide-ranging bill authored by State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) bans schools from using DEI in hiring and training.
SB 12 would ban teaching gender identity and sexual orientation while requiring parents to opt their children into sex education.
“I believe strongly in this bill, because I believe strongly that parents deserve not just a seat at the table, but the seat at the head of the table when it comes to our kids’ education,” State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) said.
While supporters say SB 12 strengthens parental rights, opponents say it attacks public education and marginalized people.
“SB 12 isn’t about protecting children or parental rights. It’s about silencing them. It’s about erasing families, banning truth, and turning our classrooms into closets,” State Rep. Jessica González (D-Dallas) said. “This law tells that child that their identity is a threat, that their story does not belong in a classroom or anywhere else for that matter, this is dangerous and it’s just cruel. Our schools should be places of learning, of safety, of affirmation, not political backgrounds where LGBTQ kids become collateral damage.”
The bill reiterates that parents have control over moral and religious teachings, educational decisions and what medical treatment their children can and cannot receive.
The bill makes it easier for parents to review their students’ library materials and classroom teaching materials.
“When it comes to Texas in our public schools, our educators are invited to partner with our parents, not the other way around when it comes to raising the next generation of Texas leaders, and this bill protects that right,” Leach said.
It also bans K-12 schools from using DEI as a factor in hiring or employment decisions. It prevents schools from developing policies, programs or training that reference race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.
SB 12 provides parents with an avenue to file complaints if they believe schools are not following the DEI ban. The bill would also give parents more information about the health services their child receives.
SB 12 would not prevent schools from teaching or acknowledging holidays or commemorative months, such as Black History Month.
It builds off legislation the Republican-led Texas Legislature passed in 2023, which banned DEI at public colleges and universities.
“What you’re saying to students today is that you will be accepted as long as you are who we say you should be. The bill does not promote freedom. It snatches it from the very core of who we are,” State Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) said. “This bill does not infer rights. It robs us of our rightful place in this world. To use the 14th Amendment, a clause that is the cornerstone of civil rights and equality and equal protection, as a method to deny those whom you don’t approve, is wrong.”
The bill bans the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation, bans school clubs based on sexual orientation and creates an avenue for parents to file complaints about violations. It would require districts to develop policies for disciplining employees who engage in or assign DEI-related tasks to others.
The conference committee kept language added by the Texas House that prohibits school district personnel from assisting a student with socially transitioning, such as using a new name or different pronouns or other expressions of gender that deny or encourage denial of the person’s biological sex at birth.
“The parents would need to be notified if there was an approach by the student and that type of way,” Creighton said.
State Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood), who is bisexual, called the bill one of the most “nakedly hateful bills we have had on the floor of this house.”
“Getting silenced in schools from the LGBTQ community, which is what this bill is designed to do, will not stop your kids from being gay. It will just make them afraid to come out,” Zwiener said. “It will make them afraid to live their lives as their full selves. It will make them afraid to tell you when they figure out that they’re LGBTQ and it might damage your relationship with them forever.”
The new version of SB 12 bans clubs related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Single-sex organizations that do not have a political mission, such as Girl Scout clubs, are not impacted by the ban.
“School district employees and contractors are still prohibited from providing instruction in clubs related to sexual orientation and gender identity, but with parent permission, student-led clubs on these topics may continue,” Creighton said.
Opponents argue the bill would harm marginalized students, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ because it would take away safe spaces. Without community and support, Rep. Jessica González said she worries it could lead to increased levels of depression and anxiety.
“When we insert language into legislation that tells children, I cannot support your wish to live your life by your identity, that hurts kids in the short and long term. It hurts them as they march towards adulthood. That pain seeps deep down into the roots and permanently impacts branches of the family tree in visible and invisible ways,” she said. “If we won’t support kids when they need it the most, then what are we doing here?”
The new version of SB 12 bans clubs related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Clubs that do not have a political mission, as Republican state lawmakers described it, such as Girl Scout clubs, are not impacted by the ban.
“School district employees and contractors are still prohibited from providing instruction in clubs related to sexual orientation and gender identity, but with parent permission, student-led clubs on these topics may continue,” Creighton said.
Parental consent would be required for all other clubs.
Speaking in favor of the bill, State Rep. Alan Schoolcraft (R-McQueeney) railed against the Texas Gender and Sexuality Alliance, which helps with LGBTQ+ clubs in schools.
“They are not about social clubs,” Schoolcraft said. “They’re about efforts to fundamentally change our social structure and the moral fiber of this country. They’re doing it through these clubs, and they’re using it to attack us. They’re attacking us through our children.”
State Rep. Rafael Anchía (D-Dallas) said his daughter was vice president of the Pride Club at her school.
“They’d get together, and they’d watch movies, they’d color. They’d go to musicals. It was about a kid who felt weird, who found her people and everything about it was good. I don’t know why grownups in this body are so triggered by that and my daughter getting together with her classmates in a school-sponsored activity,” he said. “Why is that wrong? Why does the state government want to prohibit that? It’s shocking to me that grownups wish to take that opportunity away from kids.
It clarifies that student recruitment efforts by historically black colleges and universities are permitted in collaboration with school districts or open-enrollment charter schools. There is no limit or prohibition on a school district from contracting with historically underutilized businesses or businesses owned by minority groups of women.
State Rep. Mary E. González (D-Clint) expressed concern that it would lead to districts overcorrecting and censoring themselves to ensure they don’t violate the rules.
“The long-term implications of this bill, I promise you, will come back to haunt us in the sessions that follow. You will hear of more youths experiencing crises, more teachers leaving the profession, and more counselors being terrified to do their jobs. Is this what our job is here in this building, or is our job to make it better for the next generation?” she said. “Let’s use common sense. Why are we trying to create boundaries, guard rails between adults and mentors and kids?”
If signed into law by Gov. Abbott, the law would go into effect on Sept. 1.