University bans philosophy professor from teaching about Plato because it's too gayhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/university-bans-philosophy-professor-from-teaching-about-plato-because-its-too-gay/ 🔗Alex Bollinger (7 Jan 2026)
A professor at Texas A&M University was allegedly told to stop teaching Plato in an introductory philosophy course because of the school's new policy banning the teaching of "gender ideology."
Prof. Martin Peterson shared emails with the website Daily Nous detailing orders he received from administration to "remove the modules based on race ideology and gender ideology and the Plato readings that may include these." These are readings from Plato's Symposium, specifically from Aristophanes' story about the origin of love and Diotima's ladder of love, which include discussions of love between people of the same sex.
The Daily Nous says that Peterson was contacted in December to review his syllabus for his Contemporary Moral Problems class and that "the College leadership team" discussed the inclusion of the offending Plato text.
An email from Philosophy Department Chair Kristi Sweet refers to the school's Board of Regents' policy banning courses that "Advocate race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity" without "prior written approval of the member CEO." Her email says that some upper-level classes can discuss sexual orientation or gender identity if they can prove the "necessary educational purpose," but the Contemporary Moral Problems class is introductory, so it gets no such exemption.
