A Texas Republican was recorded complaining that kids aren’t allowed to laugh at transgender classmates anymore, something she wishes they could do because she’s “not comfortable with the transgenders.”
Shelley Luther is a former Spanish teacher and a salon owner who’s running for a Texas House seat. She was speaking at a candidate forum hosted by the Fannin County Republican Party when she started talking about how much she disliked transgender students she taught.
Related: Texas governor signs new law targeting transgender youth as suicide hotline calls soar
“I am not comfortable with the transgenders,” she said. “The kids that they brought in my classroom when they said that this kid is transgendering into a different sex, that I couldn’t have kids laugh at them.”
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“Like, other kids got in trouble for having transgender kids in my class. That’s why I vote for school choice.”
WATCH: Shelley Luther, a Texas GOP candidate and former teacher, said transgender children make her uncomfortable, and she complained that their classmates weren’t allowed to make fun of them. https://t.co/c8AX8IFpY8 pic.twitter.com/R25rfROza7
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) February 8, 2022
Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez said that all students – including transgender students – deserve to “feel a sense of belonging in school so they can focus on academic success.”
“Lamenting not being able to allow students to laugh at, bully and harass transgender kids isn’t leadership, it’s cruelty plain and simple,” he said. “All children in Texas are guaranteed a public education under the constitution, deserve privacy and the ability to learn in a safe environment.”
After the video of her complaining about how kids aren’t allowed to laugh at transgender kids anymore got attention online, Luther emailed the Houston Chronicle to say that she “respected and supported all students in my classroom” but that “the topic of gender transition became the top discussion every day in my classroom.”
“When the center of focus becomes a student and not the actual lesson being taught, it is unfair to the other students,” she said.
She did not explain why the topic was discussed every day in her class, how it made the transgender students feel that their identities were debated every day at school, or why she as a teacher couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“We should focus more on learning instead of arguing about which bathroom someone should use. Bullying is never acceptable, and did not occur,” she claimed.
Luther last month also complained about Chinese students being allowed to enroll in public universities in the U.S.
“Chinese students should be BANNED from attending all Texas universities,” she tweeted. “No more Communists!”
She later said that it was “common sense” that Texas “should not be subsidizing the next generation of CCP leaders,” referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
