Who Belongs? The Pushout of LGBTQIA+ Students in Texas Higher Education, by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D. and Sherri Castillo, Ph.D.

Who Belongs? The Pushout of LGBTQIA+ Students in Texas Higher Education

by 

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D. and Sherri Castillo, Ph.D.

Let’s be honest about what’s at stake. We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of resources, relationships, and rights that LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, and staff have long relied upon—not only to succeed in higher education but to survive. For many LGBTQIA+ students, higher education is the first place they begin to feel like themselves, but the passage and implementation of Senate Bill 17 in Texas has created a climate of fear, confusion, and deep harm. It is a policy born of cruelty, not concern.

The LGBTQIA+ Campus Climate Report (Equality Texas, 2024) documents what so many of us already know in our bones: This law is not about neutrality or fairness—it’s about erasure. It bans Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices, prohibits training and outreach, and punishes institutions that dare to affirm the dignity of marginalized students. The language of SB 17 is

Read report here.

 intentionally vague enough to prompt institutions towards preemptive compliance, closing multicultural centers and college-sponsored LGBTQIA+ events. It has led to layoffs, surveillance, and self-censorship, all while those in power pretend this is a matter of bureaucratic housekeeping. It is not.

According to the report, nearly 80 percent of LGBTQIA+ students interviewed said they’ve considered leaving Texas. Over half have considered leaving their university. Students have lost access to everything from gender-affirming clothing exchanges to mentorship programs, mental health support, safe campus spaces, and visible symbols of allyship. In their place, students have been forced to fill the void themselves—organizing events, building community, and advocating for their peers—all while navigating academic and social systems that tell them they do not belong.

LGBTQIA+ students and their families pay taxes like everyone else. Isn’t it reasonable to expect that public institutions, funded by those very dollars, provide support—not exclusion—for all students? What, then, do they have to show for their investment in a system that is actively pushing them out? This is not sustainable. It is not just. And it is not who we should be as a state or a society.

Faculty and staff are feeling the strain, too. Three-quarters of LGBTQIA+ educators and university workers report negative impacts from SB 17. Many no longer feel safe or supported. Some have already left; others are preparing to go. As tensions increase in Texas following debate over bills that limit academic freedom, research funding, and further alienate marginalized people, we must ask ourselves what kind of future are we building when those who serve and mentor our students are driven out by ideological intimidation?

Private universities, while not subject to the law, are hardly immune. The chilling effect of SB 17 has reached their campuses too—students there report rising hostility, minimal institutional support, and growing concern about whether their campuses will follow suit in censoring DEI work under pressure.

Let us not be fooled: this is part of a larger project to control education, rewrite history, and suppress the lives and knowledge of entire communities. When the state dictates which identities can be acknowledged, which truths can be told, and which students can feel safe—it is not neutrality. It is structural violence.

And let us not forget: LGBTQIA+ students—particularly transgender and nonbinary youth—are at heightened risk for mental health challenges. According to national data, nearly 40% of transgender and gender-expansive college students have seriously considered suicide. That number alone should give any policymaker pause. Instead, we see performative cruelty disguised as policy, and political theater masquerading as governance.

But we are not powerless. We must call this moment what it is—an attack on young people, on educational integrity, and on the very idea of a public university that serves all Texans. Generation Z and Generation Alpha are set to be the most racially, ethnically, and gender-diverse age-generation cohort in recorded American history (Castillo, Valenzuela, & Hinds, 2025; Twenge, 2023). We must affirm life, not erasure. It is our moral and civic responsibility to ensure that these students are not only protected, but fully supported, celebrated, and empowered to thrive in the institutions that claim to serve them.

We say this as educators, as individuals who have devoted our lives and careers to nurturing critical consciousness and inclusive learning spaces. I, Angela, say this as a mother, a grandmother, and someone who has marched, testified, and fought alongside students. The state of policy protections for transgender and non-binary people in Texas should alarm researchers and citizens alike. When states like Texas ban conversations about sexuality and gender identity, remove books from libraries, and restrict access to medical care, they attempt to erase the existence of trans people alongside other minoritized communities. And I say this as a Texan who believes we can and must do better.

We need to protect academic freedom. We need to invest in student support systems, not gut them. And we need to make clear that all students—regardless of gender, race, or identity—deserve to learn in an environment of dignity and respect.

If we lose this fight, we don’t just lose DEI offices. We lose lives. We lose potential. We lose a generation of thinkers, leaders, and changemakers. But if we stand together—if we organize, testify, vote, and refuse to be silent—we can still turn this tide. Let us honor our students not by explaining away injustice, but by challenging it. Let us make Texas a place where all students are free to become who they are.

                                                      References

Castillo, S., Valenzuela, A., & Hinds, C. (2025). Organizing and youth resistance: The fight for trans rights in Texas. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2025.2502060

Equality Texas. (2024). LGBTQIA+ campus climate report: Perspectives on campus climate and the effects of SB 17’s DEI ban from LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and faculty at Texas colleges and universities. https://www.equalitytexas.org

Twenge, J. M. (2023). Generations: The real differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and what they mean for America’s future. Atria Books.

Dr. Angela Valenzuela is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Texas-Austin.

Dr. Sherri Castillo is an education policy scholar and former public school teacher dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people in K-12 and higher education.