Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Dallas ISD reach agreement over transgender teens in girls' sports
The Dallas Independent School District and Attorney General Ken Paxton have agreed to make sure transgender teens aren't participating in girls' sports, the AG's office said on Friday.
This comes weeks after Paxton questioned officials with Dallas ISD as part of an investigation into whether the district is violating state law by allowing transgender teen athletes to compete in girls' sports.
"I urge all other school districts to fulfill their legal obligations to protect girls' sports and end any attempts to circumvent Texas law. Biological males have no place in girls' sports, and any Texas public schools doing otherwise will be held accountable," Paxton said.
In February, Paxton requested an extensive list of documents from both DISD and Irving ISD after district officials were allegedly filmed, separately, telling parents that trans students could play in women's sports if the parents changed their birth certificates to "female."
The AG's office argued that DISD's LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston was filmed telling a parent that a trans student would be allowed to participate in girls' sports if the parent changed the birth certificate of their son to "female." The office also alleged she said that the district "find[s] the loopholes in everything" and that she is willing to go to jail for defying Texas law.
Paxton's office said Gaston resigned amid the investigation.
Dallas ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas law bans trans athletes from teams aligned with gender identities
In October 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that banned trans women and girls in K-12 schools from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities. It forces athletes to compete on teams on the basis of their "biological sex," or the sex that was "correctly stated" on their birth certificate, according to the text of the legislation.
He signed the Save Women's Sports Act into law in June 2023 which bans trans athletes from participating in collegiate sports teams that match their gender identities.
The bill included provisions that prevent trans athletes who have had their sex changed on their birth certificates from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities by defining sex as what was "entered on or near the time of the student's birth," and only recognizes changes made to birth certificates that were done to correct a clerical error.
