Editor —
I take great pride in being a native of San Angelo, with deep roots in Tom Green County. My grandfather started farming outside of Miles in the 1920s. Both of my parents grew up near Miles. After the War, they were married and settled in the Santa Rita neighborhood.
I was born in 1950. My brother was born in 1953. We both attended public schools through high school. Our education in the SAISD was the pathway to very successful careers. Earlier this year, we buried our father in the Miles cemetery.
For the first time, I had my entire family there and was so happy to show them all my schools, my homes, and the like. So, yes, I am very proud of San Angelo.
Yet, I am startled, sad, and angered by the news that Angelo State University is censoring any discussion of the reality of transgender identity. While I did not attend ASU, I have always bragged about the educational opportunities there.
The Carr Foundation has provided scholarships that have attracted many exceptional students to ASU.
I was invited by the Dean of Liberal Arts many years ago to guest lecture on political dependency in Latin America and was impressed by the students. The caliber of the students and the respect for academic freedom of discussion was admirable.
However, this announcement of new transgender policies will reverse the progress made at ASU over decades. ASU will not escape the trend of faculty leaving Texas.
A recent Texas Tribune survey found that over 70% of Texas college faculty are either currently pursuing employment outside the state, considering prospects outside the state, or planning to leave higher education.
Unfortunately, the current administration at ASU is bowing to political pressure from the President and the Governor to censor academic freedom. Their position of a binary view of sex ignores both history and research.
As early as the 1880s, [a person named] We’wha of the Zuni tribe, was recognized as a two spirited individual who took on both male and female roles and identities.
They were welcomed into the White House and the Smithsonian Institute by President Grover Cleveland.
The American Psychological Association concludes that biological factors such as genetics and prenatal hormone levels, early experiences, and experiences later in adolescence may all contribute to the development of transgender identities. National Geographic in January 2017 devoted an entire issue to gender identity.
Katie Couric followed with an excellent documentary.
A major conclusion: It’s possible to be XX and mostly male in terms of anatomy, physiology, and psychology, just as it’s possible to be XY and mostly female. Sex differentiation is usually set in motion by a gene on the Y chromosome, the SRY gene.
My family has known the existence of nonbinary individuals through our adult transgender son. We remember examples of his gender dysphoria early in life. My testimony in Austin this spring related to our son’s transition of gender identity.
To conclude with a more well-known family: Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, and their transgender daughter Zaya Wade. To quote Zaya: What is the point of being on this earth if you’re trying to be someone you’re not? It’s like you are not even living as yourself, which is the dumbest concept to me. Be true, and don’t really care what the ‘stereotypical’ way of being you is.
— Dale Story (he/him), professor emeritus, Dept. of Political Science, University of Texas at Arlington
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