Teachers are outing trans students thanks to state’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

Teachers are outing trans students thanks to state's new "Don't Say Gay" law

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/11/teachers-are-outing-trans-students-thanks-to-states-new-dont-say-gay-law/ 🔗

Greg Owen (28 Nov 2025)

The grim consequences for transgender students in Texas are coming into focus three months after the state's sweeping new Don't Say Gay legislation went into effect in September.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the so-called "Bill of Parental Rights" in June, a draconian right-wing wishlist of MAGA priorities banning discussion of LGBTQ+ identity and race in classrooms, shutting down gay-straight student alliances (GSAs) on school campuses, and explicitly prohibiting school staff from supporting trans students, alongside other restrictive measures.

Ethan Brignac, a trans student at Wylie East High School northeast of Dallas, has been known by his chosen name since seventh grade. With the new legislation in effect, the high school senior lobbied teachers to continue using it.

"In the first week of school, when I was kind of trying to convince my teachers to call me Ethan, I was like, 'Hey, look, it's still on my ID.'"

"Then one of my teachers this year said, 'Okay, they're gonna fix that soon.'"

Three weeks later, school administrators called him to the library and gave him a new ID. Ethan was now officially identified by his deadname.

He says some teachers seem to make a point of working his legal name into every interaction, he told the Texas Tribune, outing him to peers and rekindling the dread he felt in his time before Ethan.

At Woodlands High School in the district, junior Cassie Hilborn had planned to come out as trans, but the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation stripped her of her confidence, she says.

"Now, even teachers that might have respected my identity have been told that they unequivocally are not allowed to do so," Cassie said.