Texas Policy

Current Texas Policy

Sexual education is not mandated by law in Texas. Suppose a Texas public school district chooses to offer health education, which may include sexual education. In that case, it must adhere to the Texas State Board of Education's guidelines in the Texas Essential Skills (TEKS) for health education and the Texas Education Code. These guidelines cover the following:

School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs)

The Texas Education Code states that the local school district must have control "over the provision of human sexuality instruction to ensure that local values are reflected in that instruction." Through this law, parent and community value groups, otherwise known as School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs) are created to ensure that local and community values are reflected in sexual education instruction.

Curriculum Adoption

Sexual education curricula taught to students in Texas public school districts must be reviewed and recommended by SHACs. The district must ensure that the instruction materials are suitable for the subject and grade level for which the instruction is intended and have been reviewed by experts in the subject and grade level.

Sex Education Content

Sexual education content must stress abstinence from sexual activity as the safest way to avoid unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases/ sexually transmitted infections. The health and sexual education TEKS do not cover gender expression and non-heterosexual sexual orientations.

Parental Rights

Parents and legal guardians must provide written approval actively opting their child into sexual education classes. Parents are also allowed to withdraw their child from any portion of sexual education instruction without penalty to the child.

Other Relevant Policy/Legislature

House Bill (HB) 1038: Introduced in the Texas 87th Legislature, HB 1038 repealed the mention of homosexual conduct as an unacceptable lifestyle and criminal offense under Section 21.06 of the Penal Code. This bill was effective in September 2021; however, Section 21.06 of the Penal Code was deemed unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling.

House Bill (HB) 2769: Relating to human sexual education, this bill aimed to add curricula that would include affirming information regarding gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Additionally, HB 1038 would have added discussing human sexuality as a normal and healthy aspect of human development to sexual education instruction. The bill defined consent as an unambiguous and voluntary agreement from each participant to engage in each physical act. The bill did not pass.

House Bill (HB) 4961: Introduced in March 2023, this bill targets parental rights, specifically when it comes to the gender identity of their child. HB 4961 would require a district or school to notify a parent if their child is or is considering identifying, through appearance, expression, or behavior, as a "sex" other than the child's biological sex. The bill is still in progress with strong support from parental rights advocates. This bill took effect September 1, 2023.

Discussion on Policy Argument Framing

Because the issue of sex education has long been politically charged, policy justification and framing provide us a glimpse into the complexities and agendas of various stakeholders and interest groups. For example:

A religious and/or moral frame may justify Abstinence-Only sex education as a necessary response to unscrupulous morals that result in rampant rates of sexually transmitted infections and single-mother households
A public health framing may emphasize condom distribution to combat HIV/AIDS
A human rights frame may prioritize access to all information in order for young people to make their own autonomous decisions

These, of course, are not the only policy frames around sex education, and it is important to note that multiple frames may be used at the same time and that policy framing tends to change over time. (Kramer)

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