Texas Law Forces Schools to Use Students' Legal Names, Reversing Support for Trans Youth

Three weeks into his senior year at Wylie East High School, transgender student Ethan Brignac was called to the library and handed a new school ID. Printed in block letters was the name he had not used in five years — his legal birth name — a change Brignac said has made him feel exposed and isolated after years of being recognized as Ethan by friends, family and teachers.

District officials say the change was made to comply with Senate Bill 12 (SB 12), which took effect Sept. 1 and curtails school staff involvement in what the law defines as a student's "social transition." That definition includes using a different name, pronouns or other practices that, the law says, deny a student's sex assigned at birth. The measure also restricts classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ identities, limits or bans school-sanctioned clubs centered on sexual orientation and gender identity, and prohibits district-sponsored diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

What SB 12 requires — and what it leaves unclear

SB 12 increases parental access to school records, gives guardians more oversight of course content and requires parental permission for certain health services and lessons about sexuality. It bars public school employees from "socially transitioning" students, and it broadly restricts instruction, training and programs that involve race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation under the label of DEI.

The law's broad language and the limited guidance from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have left districts, teachers and families grappling with how to implement the rules. Rachel Moran, director of the education law program at Texas A&M University, warned that vague mandates drive some districts to overcomply out of fear of penalties.

Patchwork implementation across districts

Across Texas, school districts have adopted a range of approaches. Some — including Wylie, Conroe and Cypress-Fairbanks — have issued clear directives banning staff from honoring students' newly asserted names or pronouns and curtailing DEI initiatives. Other districts, like Leander, are allowing previously established name or pronoun uses to continue while requiring administrator approval for any new changes pending formal board policy and legal guidance.

Leander registrar-turned-classroom-support specialist Conner Carlow said his district permits maintaining preferred names that were in place before SB 12, but new requests now require parental forms and administrative review. Crestina Hardie, a Leander spokesperson, said the district is reviewing the law's interaction with board policy and federal protections before issuing definitive rules.

Smaller or charter districts have responded differently: some issued parental consent forms and suspended DEI programming, while others continue to allow gender-affirming support in practice. The inconsistency means students’ day‑to‑day experience depends heavily on local policy.

Impact on students, teachers and families

Transgender students and many educators say the changes have real psychological and academic consequences. Brignac recalled that when his records reflected his chosen name, his grades improved, he became president of the National Art Honor Society and founded an art mentorship program. Reverting to his birth name, he said, has sapped his confidence and made him withdraw from class participation.

“It made him feel rejected as a human being,” said Shannon Keene, Brignac’s stepmother.

Research links name and pronoun affirmation with better mental-health outcomes among transgender youth. A 2018 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that using a transgender teen’s chosen name across multiple contexts was associated with a 29% decrease in suicidal thoughts and a 56% decline in suicidal behaviors.

Teachers report anxiety and confusion about what they can safely teach or say. Garland ISD special education teacher Charlotte Wilson said the law forces educators to guess at permissible content and risks encouraging them to skip culturally relevant lessons for fear of losing certification.

Parents and community members are sharply divided. Some support SB 12 as restoring parental control over school content and protecting young children from exposure to gender and sexual identity topics. Opponents say it prioritizes the preferences of some guardians over others and harms students whose parents already affirm their identities. A coalition of parents, advocacy groups and teachers filed a lawsuit in August seeking to pause enforcement of SB 12 while litigation proceeds.

Broader political context

SB 12 arrived amid a suite of recent laws and proposals reshaping public education in Texas, from curriculum restrictions and book limitations to measures encouraging displays of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Officials and advocates warn that escalating culture‑war conflicts are altering what is taught, how teachers engage with students, and how school communities navigate difference.

For students like Marshall Romero at Alief Early College High School, the local environment still feels supportive: pride flags fly and teachers use gender-affirming pronouns. For others, such as Woodlands High School junior Cassie Hilborn, district policies have discouraged coming out and forced students to conceal their identities to avoid being singled out at school.

As districts craft implementation plans and courts review legal challenges, many families and educators are left waiting for clearer guidance from state authorities and for legal outcomes that will determine how — and whether — schools can recognize students’ gender identities in everyday interactions.