Author’s Visit to Texas School Cancelled over LGBTQ+ Content

Texas Republicans seem to believe if you don’t mention queer people, we don’t exist. The most recent victim of Texas’ anti-DEI laws is the author Chris Barton. His appearance at a San Antonio school was cancelled recently due to controversy surrounding his recent book called Glitter Everywhere, which mentions gay people in one line.

No, that wasn’t a typo. Barton’s book doesn’t advocate for gay people, nor is it liberal in any sense of the word (Barton is presumably straight). The offending line in question is apolitical: “To signal the welcoming of LGBTQ+ worshippers, some congregations now offer a mix of ashes and purple glitter.”

Barton called the situation “absurd.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law two bills purported to be about meritocratic hiring and education practices and another that’s about straight-up about government censorship.

• SB 17 — Senate Bill 17 passed in 2023. It bans Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices and activities at public higher education institutions.
• SB 12 — Expands the above law to apply to K-12 schools, and implements a rule forbidding the mention of LGBTQIA+ people in schools.
• SB 37 — gives the Texas governor control over the curricula of schools and universities.

The results of the above laws may be unintentional, but they were definitely predictable. Censorship, the stifling of free speech, and the politicization of education, have led to these scandals:

• in a Texas A&M a professor removed Plato from his curriculum because he acknowledged gender-based differences.
• school libraries across the state have removed dozens of books, including To Kill a Mockingbird, for being about racial discrimination.
• schools across the state have disbanded Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) groups from schools, removing a lifeline for gay children coming to terms with their sexuality.