Like most high school students, James Onambele watched his peers constantly change, trying different versions of themselves to see which fit best. All the while, Onambele, a now 19-year-old transgender male, navigated a change of his own. “I would constantly feel too feminine, but at the same time, I was transitioning...
The Katy Independent School District is the latest district to put in place a policy which targets LGBTQ+ students.Like most high school students, James Onambele watched his peers constantly change, trying different versions of themselves to see which fit best.“I would constantly feel too feminine, but at the same time, I was transitioning out of being only feminine,” he said.
Onambele, who graduated in May, is concerned that more transgender and other LGBTQ+ students will find themselves in similar situations since KISD implemented a new gender-related policy in late August. “It would’ve made me less open, which wouldn't have been great because being referred to as a girl was super uncomfortable for me,” Onambele said. “Not feeling like I could talk to anyone about that would’ve harmed my development and probably slowed me down more.”
Zeo McGehee, who is also a nonbinary KISD student at Tompkins High School and uses they/them pronouns, had a similar reaction. They said Tompkins is also known to be one of the district’s more accepting high schools. McLean was among the main advocates to raise awareness of the district’s book banning and the gender-related measure once KISD’s board of trustees introduced it.
The board has also changed the formal book review process, ultimately allowing the trustees' full authority to remove a book from the shelves – if two of the seven board members agree – and vote to ban it entirely. For several years, the church has amassed crowds at its drag queen events and seen countless visitors from nearby areas and out-of-state stop at its Transparent Closet – a no-cost gender-affirming clothing boutique, which opened in 2019.
To provide an alternative place for GSAs to meet if needed, the church has offered their youth safe space, K Place, where young LGBTQ+ students and their allies have somewhere to hang out and talk. The church has hosted several movie nights and provides a queer community group run by two LGBTQ+ therapists.
“I spoke with a mom sitting in the pumpkin patch who had planned to take her daughter to Houston Pride but got sick, so she came to ours instead,” Rose said. “It was truly touching because she told me, ‘I’ve never seen my daughter as happy as I’ve seen her today. She can’t believe so many people would support her.’”
The church and Katy Pride will be hosting more social events and the organization already confirmed the date for next year’s festival. However, in the wake of the policy passing, both plan to transition their focus on getting more information, education and resources to those needing it.“As the trickle-down effects of what's happening continue to play out until we can create some movement and change, this will become increasingly more important and relevant,” Tolleson said.
At one school, Burton said, a student showed up to class the day after the policy passed and was confronted by one of their teachers. The instructor pointed to the student’s deadname and said, “We’re going back to this now.”At this point, the student left the room and proceeded to drop out of the school later that same day.
Jen Escobar, a KISD parent, said, ironically, the board members have claimed the policy is out of respect to parents’ rights to choose and know what is best for their child. Escobar and others against the policy said KISD board members are also overestimating families' willingness to accept their queer children once they come out to them.
Rogers said they are concerned about students' attitudes because they hear from more and more LGBTQ+ friends who are getting bullied or called names. Alex said since the KISD policy passed the number of people wanting to help out at the closet or make donations to it has increased.“I was never planning on coming out, but I was just so hurt by my employer that I wanted to quit and not come back,” they said. “But I got support from my principal and decided to stay for my kids. I think the policy backfired on the district because it got a lot of teachers like me to come out and kids, too, to support each other.
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