Adam Zuvanich/Houston Public Media
Community members walk into Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center for a school board meeting on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.
Houston ISD has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by two Bellaire High School parents who sued the district earlier this year for allegedly continuing to use their child’s preferred pronouns despite requests from the parents not to do so.
A settlement agreement signed by the parents, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles and their attorneys was filed Friday in court, as first reported by the Houston Chronicle. The agreement had not been signed by a judge as of Monday afternoon, court records show.
HISD agreed to direct staff at Bellaire, where the student is enrolled, to use pronouns that align with the student’s sex at birth. The parents agreed to “release, acquit and forever discharge … any and all claims” against the school district, which is denying all claims and allegations made by the parents as part of the agreement.
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“HISD agrees to direct all professional employees … assigned to BHS to address the [parents’] daughter only by her given name or a nickname based on her given name and by female pronouns while their daughter is a minor and enrolled in HISD,” the agreement states.
RELATED: Parents sue Houston ISD in federal court for allegedly using their child’s preferred pronouns
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on June 23, pertained to a student who had asked teachers to refer to them with masculine he/him pronouns. The parents claimed that upon discovering their child was using a different name and pronouns, they repeatedly spoke with various teachers and administrators to express their objection.
The lawsuit was filed with assistance from Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit committed to “protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, marriage and family, and parental rights,” according to its website.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference,” Kate Anderson, director of Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Parental Rights, said in a Monday statement released by the organization.
Houston ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neither HISD nor Texas at large has any policies related directly to gender identity and preferred pronoun use. Multiple Houston-area school districts — Fort Bend ISD, Cy-Fair ISD and Katy ISD — have passed controversial policies regulating the usage of pronouns and requiring that parents be informed if their child identifies as transgender or asks to use pronouns that differ from their sex at birth.