A viral video of a Texas A&M professor discussing transgender topics in a literature class led to her firing, the resignation of the university's president and prompted fears over academic freedom in Texas. Now, the repercussions have reached a much smaller Texas school in a far-flung part of the state.

Last week, Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, informed faculty that the university would be instituting a new policy about discussions of transgender people or gender diversity. As first reported by the Concho Observer, this includes a blanket ban on discussions of transgender topics in classes and a requirement that faculty refer to students by their legal name and not preferred names. The new policy also requires employees to remove pronouns from their email signatures and take down LGBTQ+ pride flags or stickers that may indicate a classroom is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people

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While Texas lawmakers have passed several laws related to LGBTQ+ topics in education in recent years, none explicitly bar discussions of transgender identity in classrooms. The latest, Senate Bill 12, bans programs that mention race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation and Gay-Straight Alliances in Texas public schools. However, all of those provisions apply only to K-12 schools.

But the letter of the law appears not to matter. ASU's new policy comes on the heels of controversy at Texas A&M University, where professor Melissa McCoul was fired after a student posted an undercover video of McCoul teaching about transgender identity in a class on children's literature. Both the student and Abbott, as well as one Texas A&M regent, claimed such lessons were against the law. When pressed by the Texas Tribune on what law McCoul broke, neither Abbott nor the regent could say. Rep. Brian Harrison, who posted the video, admitted to the Tribune that no Texas law forbids teaching about LGBTQ+ topics in classrooms.

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