Texas lawmaker threatens university budget cuts over LGBT studies
Taxpayers in the state of Texas — even conservative Christians and other religious groups opposed to gender ideology in public schools — could soon be on the hook for funding LGBT curriculum, according to some Republican lawmakers.
Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, has vowed to take drastic action against any Texas public university that offers "LGBT/Sexualities" programs, which Harrison calls “leftist indoctrination.”
Harrison is one of nearly a dozen Texas state lawmakers, including himself, who are raising concerns regarding the University of Texas System’s decision to offer free tuition to undergraduate students from families earning less than $100,000 annually.
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The new policy is an expansion of the Promise Plus program, allowing eligible students to attend any of the nine UT academic institutions tuition-free. Previously, in 2019, UT Austin had created a $167 million endowment to cover the costs for students from families with an adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less.
The initiative was later expanded statewide in 2022 with a $300 million endowment.
In a letter shared Nov. 21, Harrison, along with 10 other state lawmakers, many of whom identify as Christians, called the plan “socialist, regressive, and possibly unconstitutional.” Harrison says “UT’s budget must be cut, and bureaucrats should be fired.”
In an interview with CP on Tuesday, Harrison said the policy, if enacted, would mean Christian families along with other Texas taxpayers would be subsidizing curriculum that, in many cases, directly contradicts their most deeply-held beliefs.
“I am sick of my constituents’ tax dollars being weaponized against them, their values, and their children,” Harrison said via email. “Public universities are for education not leftist indoctrination. If you want to study [lesbian, gay and bisexual] studies, fine, but do it with your own money.
Harrison said he plans on filing legislation next session to “zero out the budget of all public university presidents who don’t get rid of these minors and courses on their campuses.”
Democratic state Rep. Donna Howard, in a reply to Harrison’s letter on X, denied that any tax dollars would be used for LGBT courses or other studies.
"There are no tax dollars involved," Howard, who represents Austin, wrote. "Higher Ed institutions are already helping families afford college. This expands philanthropic endowments and helps meet affordability goals of Gov. [Greg] Abbott and the Texas Higher Education Board."
Harrison has previously said lawmakers never had a chance to vote on the use of these funds for these types of programs.
“Leftists have been put in charge of our public universities, and the inmates are now running the asylum and abusing tax dollars to push liberal propaganda instead of educating the next generation,” he said.
While Republicans expanded their majority in the state House and Senate, it’s unclear whether the GOP has the political will to advance the kind of legislation Harrison supports.
“Texas has a reputation for leading in individual liberty, freedom and limited government. But for too long, we have been coasting on that reputation instead of living up to it,” he said. “Texas must become the low tax, limited government, bastion of liberty that everyone outside of Texas thinks we are.”
Under a bill passed last year, public colleges and universities in the state of Texas are prohibited from establishing or maintaining programs and offices that promote hiring or employment practices on the basis of race, sex, or other protected characteristics.
In addition to banning so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, Senate Bill 17 also prohibits taxpayer-funded schools from mandatory DEI training. The legislation resulted in UT Austin and other campuses eliminating or greatly reducing their DEI offices at public universities in the state, as well as forcing university-run LGBT centers and groups to shut down.
