Texas bill banning DEI, LGBTQ clubs in schools heads to governor for signature
KERA | By Bill Zeeble
Published June 3, 2025 at 11:29 AM CDT
A bill banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work in Texas’ K-12 schools is on its way to the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 12 bans DEI policies in hiring and training, bans student groups centered around gender identity and sexual orientation, and prohibits school employees from assisting transgender students with “social transitioning.” It also allows parents to receive a written record of books their child checks out of a school library.
The bill’s author, Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe, also authored SB17, the 2023 law banning DEI in the state’s colleges and universities. Earlier this year he called SB12 the “strongest Education Parental Bill of Rights in America,” one of a handful of conservative bills this session aimed at giving parents more of a say in students’ curriculum.
“Texas parents now have a guaranteed seat at the table with our schools and their voice now have greater protections in law,” he wrote on X after the bill passed the Senate.
Republican state Rep. Brad Buckley, chair of the House Public Education Committee, spoke on the House floor Saturday in support of SB 12. He said the bill is about the children.
“They’re all important, and … they have way more in common than they have in differences,” he said. “We want to return that so that children can gather together in things that are community minded where they can share experiences together throughout their school year.”
North Texas Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner opposed SB12, calling it partisan, harmful, unnecessary and divisive. He said parents in his district weren’t demanding rights SB12 was created for. And because it outlaws school organizations like the Gay Straight Alliance, he said it will hurt kids, and all with the state’s stamp of approval.
“That same government is going to say to high school kids ‘you cannot be in a club with people like you,’” Turner said. “Think how wrong that is.”
In a statement over the weekend the ACLU said SB12 “censors discussions of race, gender and sexual orientation” and threatens the privacy of trans and nonbinary students.
Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal of Houston said the bill specifically prevents “policies and programs that teach about the racial history, the racial relationships, the different cultures.” He called it the “one of the worst” things he’s seen in his four sessions in the legislature.
“It’s not just unnecessary and hurtful,” he said. “It’s tragic.”
The bill now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature. The law is set to go into effect Sept. 1.