Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating two school districts whose officials were caught on tape saying they would help alter records for male students so they could play girls’ sports, The Daily Wire has learned.
Accuracy In Media last month exposed two school officials in separate districts saying they would violate a Texas law that requires students to play on teams that match their sex. Though the two administrators don’t seem to have had any contact with each other, the similarity of their answers suggests a willingness among Texas public school staff to put their ideological beliefs above the law.
Now, Paxton is demanding answers from the two school districts to better understand the situation.
“The idea of school district officials turning their backs on female students and sacrificing the integrity of women’s athletics to advance the radical transgender agenda is disgusting,” Paxton told the The Daily Wire. “Any systematic effort by a school district to sidestep state law and allow biological boys to play in girls’ sports in Texas will be rooted out, and my office will explore all avenues to hold those responsible to account.”
Paxton’s investigation could have sweeping consequences. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stipulating that the United States will “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
In January, an Accuracy In Media reporter posing as a parent approached Dallas Independent School District’s LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston, and Reny Lizardo, the executive director of campus operations at the Irving Independent School District.
Asked if there were ways to circumvent Texas’s prohibition on boys playing on girls’ sports teams, both officials were quick to offer “loopholes.”
Gaston said parents could simply “update” the gender on their child’s birth certificate — a violation of Texas law. She claimed that she “would go to jail” to help a transgender-identifying student join a sports team, and boasted that she would have no trouble finding allies if she faced legal trouble.
“If you can get that done, and you turn us a birth certificate that says ‘this gender,’ that’s the gender we go with,” Lizardo said, adding “it’s not illegal if you don’t get caught.” In a statement, Irving ISD distanced itself from Lizardo, who resigned in the wake of the Accuracy In Media report.
“Irving ISD complies with all state and federal laws, and all employees are expected to adhere to any and all legal and ethical standards,” the district said in a statement,” adding that Lizardo “was acting outside of his role as it relates to legal and regulatory expertise.”
It is unclear if Gaston is still employed by Dallas ISD, which did not respond to a request for comment.
