LGBT Groups Barred From Pride Over Book Ban In TX School District: Now The ACLU Is Stepping In

Two LGBTQ+ groups were barred from hosting pride events by Princeton ISD after violating materials policies and book bans. Now, the ACLU has filed a complaint.

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Note: This edition of Erin In The Morning is brought to you by Mira Lazine, who is guest writing for Erin In The Morning. Mira Lazine is a freelance journalist covering LGBTQ+ issues, politics, and science.

Last month, the ACLU of Texas filed a complaint against Dallas metro-area school district Princeton ISD. The complaint alleged that the school district had unjustly discriminated against the LGBTQ+ rights organization Color Splash Out by denying them from hosting a Pride event. It comes after a separate one was filed in May that alleged the school district had also discriminated against the queer advocacy group PTX Diverse by banning them from utilizing school facilities.

“We believe in both cases that Princeton ISD has engaged in a viewpoint regulation, a viewpoint-based regulation against the free speech of these organizations. We believe that these organizations are being targeted because they cater to the LGBTQIA+ community and it is unconstitutional for government entities to regulate the speech of a person or group of people because they disagree with their message. And we believe that's exactly what's happening here,” said Charelle Lett, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas who works on this case, to Erin In The Morning.

The ACLU complaints both allege that these organizations were unjustly prohibited from holding Pride events solely because of their status as LGBTQ+ organizations. They allege that other issues were used as a pretext to justify prohibiting these organizations. In the case of Color Splash Out, they were planning to hold a Pride event at the school for all ages. They had put out a vendor application for people to apply to sell items. Color Splash Out had intended to strictly keep all vendors PG 13+, however they had accidentally left in a sentence from the prior year that said 18+ materials were allowed if clearly marked as such and hidden aside. There was also a typo left in that said they were with PTX Diverse, something untrue for the current event. The group had expressed to the school that they were regretful about these errors and were willing to fix them in an updated vendor application. However, rather than talk with the group about what happened, Color Splash Out was completely banned from the school with no prior warning, says the complaint.

“We went to the school board, followed the steps of the grievance process, and we were hoping that they would hear the words that were your students, the people you serve are the same people that we serve. We're in the same town. We live here, and our kids went to school here. So we want to make sure that we are able to offer a safe space and a priority for all. And we were willing to remove the wording, agree with whatever it is that they needed to feel safe rotations, because we're in the same thing for kids. We're not going to show all these things to young people. Color Splash Out is about empowering and helping young people and providing safe and safe spaces. We're not going to do anything that jeopardizes our mission or vision,” said a spokesperson with Color Splash Out to Erin In The Morning.

Princeton PTX, a completely distinct organization from Color Splash Out, was prohibited from stepping foot on campus for a separate incident. A spokesperson describes how they had previously hosted events with the school and that “everything was perfect” until an anti-trans advocate, who had pushed for city ordinances to restrict the group from organizing pride events, got elected to the school board. This advocate had, the spokesperson alleges, gotten friends of theirs elected to the school board. This led to heightened scrutiny against PTX Diverse, with minor infractions like a lack of proper disclaimers about their affiliation, something that Christian groups have not been held liable for failing to do, being used as pretense to justify banning the group from school facilities. The final straw was when the group had hosted banned books at a family Pride event. Even though the books were separated by appropriateness for different age groups and “nobody from the school district ever said anything about them,” according to the spokesperson, the school nevertheless used this to justify banning any additional events from Princeton PTX.

Shortly after the Color Splash Out complaint was filed, the school district also voted to uphold the allegedly discriminatory decisions against both organizations. The ACLU is currently debating on how to proceed following this decision. “We have not decided how exactly we are going to move forward. With this case, we have not decided whether or not we will be litigating this case or filing a lawsuit specifically. But we do plan to continue advocating for both organizations,” said Lett.

Provided the allegations by the ACLU and the organizations they represent are true, this would highlight just how prevalent anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is. Hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals are on the rise across the nation, and with constant hateful bills introduced throughout the year. It’s difficult for queer people to even exist without being harassed by opponents. The fact that this sentiment may be pervading institutions like Princeton ISD creates a terrifying precedent for what is to come.

A spokesperson for Princeton ISD said to Erin In The Morning, “Princeton ISD administration canceled rental agreements between the district and two different organizations because it was determined they each violated the district’s facility use policy. The District has been in receipt of grievances filed by the ACLU, and the District’s legal counsel worked with ACLU representatives to schedule grievance hearings in accordance with Board of Trustee policies. Generally, the District denies the claims, however, the grievant was provided due process. Following the grievance hearings and consideration by the Board of Trustees, the board voted to uphold the decisions made by district administration.”