The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts is facing a civil rights complaint following recent changes to its prestigious Texas Boys Choir and Singing Girls of Texas programs.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Aug. 10 on behalf of one family with a child who identifies as transgender and nonbinary at the school.
Recently, the school board voted 4-2 to add language that states students can only join the group that matches their sex assigned at birth and requires them to submit an unaltered birth certificate before auditioning.
The student’s parents said they were allowed to audition for the prestigious choral group, The Singing Girls of Texas, and the board’s vote took place weeks later. The family says the policy is discriminatory toward trans and nonbinary students.
The parents are identified by the pseudonyms Marie and Matthew Moe in the complaint.
“This whole process has added anxiety, stress, and a level of fear into our daily lives since we spoke out against the board’s decision,” the father stated in the ACLU’s press release. “Now we feel like a target has been placed on our family just for trying to allow our child to be the happiest, healthiest, and most whole version of themself and for seeking the best educational opportunities for them.”
The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts is a public charter school and is governed by the Texas Center for Arts and Academics board.
President and CEO of the Texas Center for Arts and Academics, Paul Gravley, issued the following statement to the Fort Worth Report: “We have only been made aware by media inquiries that a complaint was filed with the Office of Civil Rights over policies the TCA+A Board of Directors adopted at a recent meeting. We are looking into the complaint and have no further information or comment to provide at this time.”
In the complaint, the student’s mother shared that she understood her child was likely to face bullies when they came out as trans and nonbinary, but she has still been taken aback by the reaction.
“I never thought that the worst bullies would be grown men and women — school board members — who’ve abused their power to quite literally remove my child’s voice for the sake of personal and political advancement and religious dogma,” the statement said.
The complaint alleges that the board has created a “hostile anti-LGBTQIA atmosphere” at the school and that the policies violate Title IX by discriminating against trans and nonbinary students who attend the school.
The federal law prevents discrimination based on sex and applies to all education programs and activities that receive federal funding.
What is Title IX?
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX states:
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
The ACLU also issued a complaint against Keller ISD for its new “facility standards” policy that prevents students from using the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity; the complaint also takes issue with the “Identification of students” policy that allows faculty and staff to disregard a student’s preferred pronouns.
ACLU of Texas attorney Chloe Kempf called actions at both schools “deeply disappointing” in the press release.
“We urge the federal government to intervene and end these clearly discriminatory policies before they can further harm and stigmatize LGBTQIA+ students,” she said. “No matter their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or religion, all students deserve to learn in an inclusive and welcoming educational environment.”
Sara Zampierin, professor and director of the Texas A&M Civil Rights Clinic, said after receiving the complaint, the Department of Education will determine if the complaint falls under its purview.
Title IX is a federal law it regularly enforces, so that should not be an issue here, she said. Next, the department will make sure that the school receives federal funding. If those two criteria are met, the department will decide whether it should open an investigation.
“An investigation doesn’t necessarily mean there was a violation. It just means that they’re going to look into this further and use their investigatory powers,” she said.
If an investigation is opened and the department finds a violation, it could work to mediate a resolution with the school. It could also move forward with enforcement actions, like taking away federal funding or referring the case to the Department of Justice.
At the heart of the legal question is whether Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, includes protections for gender identity.
Zampierin pointed to Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia where the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation falls under discrimination based on sex.
“The U.S. Supreme Court determined … that if you’re discriminating on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, you’re basically making assumptions about how somebody should be acting because of their sex and discriminating against them if you take action because their behavior doesn’t comport with how you think they think they should be acting,” she said.
The case was looking at Title VII, but based on statements, executive orders and other administrative regulations, Zampierin said it is likely that the Department of Education would interpret Title IX in a similar way.
Timelines for this process vary. The fastest turnaround she’s seen recently is when a group filed a complaint about legacy admissions at Harvard following the Supreme Court decision that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. The department decided to open an investigation in about a month, but, even if an investigation is opened quickly, some cases take years to reach a resolution.
Students at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts school are set to begin school on Aug. 14 and students at Keller ISD start on Aug. 16.
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 financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
