Back to School Toolkit

Whether it be navigating new classroom dynamics, forging new relationships, or exploring self-expression, many young people experience uncertainty or anxiety at the start of a new school year.

Public schools in Texas are often used as a political wager, and state policies like Senate Bill 12 (SB 12), Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), and other bills passed by the Texas Legislature in 2025, have large impacts on students’ lives of and exacerbate the stress associated with back to school for transgender, gender-expansive (TGE), and queer students, their families, and the adults at school who care for them. 

In this toolkit you will find information about relevant policies and laws impacting the public K-12 experience for trans, gender-expansive, and queer people, tools to navigate the classroom and advocate for the rights and dignity of TGE students and staff.

Senate Bill 12

The Texas Student Identity Censorship Law

Senate Bill 12 (SB 12) became law in 2025, and targets students, teachers, and faculty in K-12 public and open-enrollment charter schools across Texas through banning GSAs, activities and programs that mention race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, prohibiting teachers from honoring the names and pronouns of their TGE students, granting parents and guardians near-total control over their student(s)’ experience in school, and more.

Shortly after SB 12 went into effect, the Transgender Law Center, the American Civil Liberty Union of Texas, the GSA Network, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, Texas American Federation of Teachers, as well as students and teachers from three school districts sued to block the law from being enforced.

In February of 2026, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking SB 12 from being enforced in the three school districts (Houston ISD, Plano ISD, and Katy ISD) where the plaintiffs went to school or worked.

Senate Bill 8

The Texas “Facilities Ban”

Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) became law in 2025 and targets transgender, gender-expansive, and intersex Texans by requiring that all people use multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, shower rooms, and sleeping quarters according to sex assigned at birth in buildings owned, operated, or controlled by state agencies, political subdivisions, and institutions of higher education.

SB 8 restrictions apply in K-12 and open-enrollment charter schools, as well as public school buildings other than the schools themselves (i.e., district administrative buildings, athletics facilities, stadiums, etc.).

As TGE students navigate restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities on school or school district property, remember that trans students are always entitled to safety, dignity, respect, and privacy. Below are some things to keep in mind when dealing with restrictive facility policies.

Note: Nothing in SB 8 requires anyone to “prove” that they are using the “correct” facility. SB 8 also does not require people to demand that someone provide “proof.” Additionally, it is illegal to photograph or capture video of an individual inside of a restroom. SB 8 does not make that behavior permissible.

Advocating for Yourself

NAVIGATING YOUR SCHOOL’S COMPLAINT PROCESS

When dealing with discrimination or mistreatment based on gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, it is critical to document everything that happens.

Keep a written record of what you or someone you know experienced, including when the instance of discrimination or mistreatment occurred, a timeline of events if the discrimination or mistreatment is occurring/has occurred over a period of time, who perpetrated it, what exactly occurred, and what steps, formal or informal, you have taken to defend yourself.

Having a comprehensive record will be extremely helpful if you choose to pursue administrative action, or if you decide to contact an advocacy or legal organization.

SEAT’s Texas Students Power Map

K-12 ADVOCACY ROAD MAP

You have been impacted by transphobia in your K-12 school. Now what?

Family Resources

Where do protections for Texas families stand?

In 2022, Attorney General Ken Paxton authored an opinion equating life-saving medical care for trans youth with child abuse. Governor Abbott then directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate affirming families of trans youth. Even though Attorney General opinions are not law, do not create nor amend law, and do not carry the force of law (and therefore cannot designate affirming a trans youth as being child abuse), DFPS opened investigations into Texas families for alleged child abuse on the basis that they supported their child(ren).

Two lawsuits were filed—Doe v. Abbott and PFLAG v. Abbott—to prevent DFPS from continuing to investigate supportive families of trans and gender-expansive youth. PFLAG National, Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Texas, and ACLU National sued and won legal injunctions that afforded families of trans youth protection from being investigated by the State. All families who were members of PFLAG were automatically covered by the PFLAG v. Abbott injunction.

After more than four years of investigations being blocked, on April 24, 2026, the Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) dismissed the injunctions. This move, as emphasized by our legal partners, is purely procedural and does not mean that DFPS’s rule requiring investigations is lawful. The injunctions were dismissed because the plaintiffs (the families on whose behalf the lawsuits were filed) no longer needed the injunctions, as DFPS had closed their investigations and testified that cases would not be reopened because the youth are no longer minors.

Wellness Resources

If you are in need of any additional mental health support, or assistance navigating resources, please email support@transtexas.org.

LGBTQIA+ Specific Hotlines

A list of these crisis lines intended for easy distribution can be accessed here.

General Crisis Hotlines

A list of these crisis lines intended for easy distribution can be accessed here.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Keeping Each Other Safe Requires Safeguarding Our Access to Knowledge

Faced with an onslaught of attacks on transgender students and educators, as well as institutions of higher education, TENT remains committed to providing up to date information on how to organize, respond, and fight back against censorship. From targeted lawsuits, shuttered art exhibitions, to blanket censorship and hyper-surveillance, we want people to feel empowered to respond in their learning communities.

Safeguarding Community Knowledge