Students planning to audition for the famed Texas Boys Choir or Singing Girls of Texas will now have to provide an unaltered birth certificate before trying out for the group that matches their sex assigned at birth.
The rule, which was folded into a process for annual reviews of both choirs’ handbooks, drew pushbackfrom several parents, alumni and students attending the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, also known as FWAFA. The public charter school is home to both choirs and is governed by the Texas Center for Arts and Academics, commonly referred to as TCA+A.
It also drew the attention of the conservative nonprofit Texas Values. The group issued an alert on its website asking people to show up to the June 27 meeting and encourage board members to “stand strong.” Several supporters obliged and held signs that said “Biology not ideology” and “Boys ≠ Girls” in front of the school before the meeting started.
Some brought the signs into the auditorium but set them on nearby seats or the floor before the meeting started. On the other side of the auditorium, a sea of attendees wore black T-shirts. Some wore Pride stickers on otherwise plain tops while others donned shirts that read “Let them sing” on the front and “Choir is for all” on the back.
The board ultimately voted 4-2 twice, once for each choir, to approve updates to the handbooks. Additions include language defining boys and girls as biological males and females as well as requiring students to provide an unaltered birth certificate to audition for the group that matches their sex assigned at birth.
The decision followed nearly three hours of public comment and more than an hour of closed door deliberations.
Early in the meeting, chair of the board of directors Daniel Bates encouraged members in the audience not to show their agreement or disagreement to the speeches out of respect and to help keep the process moving.
But strong emotions made it hard for supporters to withhold their reactions to everyone — from the students who discussed their gender identity and the parents who backed them to the community members who endorsed the language and the alumni who encouraged the board to uphold tradition.
The board
According to the Texas Education Agency, members of charter school boards are appointed rather than elected.
The TCA+A board currently has six members, though its own bylaws state that the “optimum size” for the board is 18 and “should the board membership drop below 15, every effort will be made to bring the number to 18 or above as soon as possible.”
Faith was a common theme mentioned by both groups.
Jeni Stennis, a mother of five and FWAFA parent, described speaking with several nonbinary students while working as a Christian campus minister and missionary.
“I saw firsthand that issues pertaining to gender are often complex, wholly unique and situational and deeply personal. I came to realize that God did not call me to create problems for other people, of opposing beliefs, punishing them, excluding them for living their lives with integrity according to their beliefs,” she said. “Rather, I saw that I honored Him by showing acceptance and finding solutions, even when and especially when we disagreed.”
Michelle Petta, who teaches painting and other art classes at FWAFA, also cited her Christian faith, but came to a different conclusion.
“I love my students and I encourage them to be the best that they can be. So if a student is confused about their identity, I will listen with my heart wide open, without judgment. But I see truth in them that they have yet to see themselves,” she said. “So rather than affirming their confusion, I remind them of the truth of who they are. And I build relationships and I intercede in prayer because I have seen the power and love of Christ transform lives in the midst of complete darkness.”
Other members of faculty, some of whom described being left out of the decision-making process, also stepped up to the podium to share their perspectives.
Kerra Simmons, artistic director of Singing Girls of Texas, said that when she decided to become a conductor and educator, one of her goals was to raise the value of treble ensembles, which are typically made up of young women but can also include trans and nonbinary members. She asked that decisions of membership be left up to the directors.
“I believe empowering our young women is important, as is empowering our young non-binary and transgender friends,” she said. “There are children in my ensemble who don’t identify with the word female and that’s OK because they can sing beautifully and healthily in the treble register, and that’s what really matters. There’s a possibility for us to have both at the same time.”
Todd Prickett, the artistic director of the Texas Boys Choir, said TCA+A has a duty to establish policies that give equal opportunities to all students, regardless of gender identity.
“Imposing gender roles onto a student based on their sex assigned at birth seems more fitting for a private, parochial school than a public charter school,” he said. “In my opinion, such an imposition is discriminatory and lacks basic compassion. Please remember you do not have to agree with someone in order to be compassionate toward them.”
But Steve Johnson, an alumnus of the Texas Boys Choir who sang with the group in the 1960s, said the long history of boys’ choirs is important to maintain.
“I’m here to voice my support of TBC remaining a biologically male choir. Boys’ choirs have hundreds of years of tradition. People don’t have the opportunity to hear a boys’ choir in many places and it’s getting even more rare, ” he said. “Timbre and tone, that is a unique sound for pre-pubescent boys … a biological girl’s voice has a different timbre, in my opinion.”
Not all alumni were in agreement, including some who sent letters and asked others to read them on their behalf.
Two Republican members of the Texas Legislature, Sen. Kelly Hancock and Rep. Tony Tinderholt, also spoke at the meeting.
“I do believe there’s a choir for all, but not all choirs are for all. And I hope you’ll take that into account. I know that we all have great compassion for all kids,” Hancock said. “… And I appreciate your compassion to try to do what is right. But as someone who lives in politics, there are certain things I love — music, sports — and it tears at my heart to see people try to politicize those things for various purposes when it’s unnecessary.”
Rep. Tinderholt said the answer should be simple.
“I’m here today because I’m deeply concerned about the question that’s before this body as to whether a young lady should be allowed to join the boys choir. I think it’s simple. You follow the rules. The answer has to be ‘no,’ ” he said. “It’s concerning that we’re even having this discussion, let alone having it in front of children that are here in this room tonight.”
He described his support for S.B.15, a bill that bars collegiate trans athletes from competing on teams that do not match their sex assigned at birth, and connected it to the decision before the school board that night.
“I’m hoping you do not force my colleagues in the Texas Legislature to expand existing legislation to cover other traditionally sex-segregated extracurricular activities,” he said. “Because if we have to, that’s what we will do. I’m certain that my peers will do that.”
More than 50 people spoke, roughly half of whom announced a direct connection to the school at the podium either as alumni, current students, parents or members of its staff. Many of the other speakers on the roster signed up as community members or self-described concerned citizens.
By the time the board returned from closed session a little after 10:30 p.m., several members of the audience had left the auditorium.
The votes
Changes to the handbooks for the Texas Boys Choir and Singing Girls of Texas were addressed in separate votes. Both times, the board voted 4-2 in favor of changing the language for the respective choirs.
Cheryl Prince Bean, Melissa Goodroe, Mary A. Zimmerman and Daniel Bates supported the motions.
Charles Reid and Leslie Scott opposed.
The board voted twice, once for each handbook. When the updates passed, there was a light smattering of applause in the room. Shortly after, social media posts from Texas Values declared victory.
A few of the families who opposed the changes said they were disappointed in the outcome but not surprised. Several cited the tenor of survey questions sent out in advance of the June 27 meeting as a point of concern.
While addressing the board, Prickett, the director of Texas Boys Choir, acknowledged that it would be impossible to speak on behalf of the choir because there are families on both sides of the issue.
“Sadly,” he said, “the outcome of tonight’s decision will likely result in the departure of families on one side or the other.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and finan