ACLU of Texas Civil Rights Complaint on Granbury ISD Book Bans Leads to Federal Investigation

DALLAS - December 20, 2022 - The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is opening an investigation into Granbury Independent School District, near Fort Worth, over alleged sex discrimination.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a civil rights complaint in July 2022 alleging that Superintendent Jeremy Glenn's anti-LGBTQIA+ remarks and Granbury ISD's subsequent book removals constituted unlawful sex discrimination under Title IX and created a hostile environment for LGBTQIA+ students.

OCR confirmed on December 6 that after evaluating the complaint, it is opening an investigation. In addition, OCR noted that "Granbury ISD has been informed of your complaint allegation to be investigated, and OCR has requested documentation and information from the District." Since "the district is a recipient of Federal financial assistance, OCR has jurisdiction to process this complaint under Title IX."

The following quote can be attributed to Chloe Kempf, attorney at the ACLU of Texas:

"Public school districts cannot discriminate against students on the basis of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. By choosing to open this investigation in response to our complaint, the federal government is signaling that remedying discrimination against LGBTQIA+ students is a top priority and that school districts cannot deny students the right to be themselves in school, be it through book bans, discriminatory comments, or other harmful policies.

See the ACLU of Texas' Title IX complaint here: https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/aclutx_granbury_isd_title_ix_complaint.pdf

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