Texas GOP candidate Shelley Luther complains that students can’t make fun of transgender children

Shelley Luther, the hair salon owner who was catapulted into political stardom after being jailed for defying a pandemic lockdown order, put transgender kids in the crosshairs of her campaign for the Texas House over the weekend. Appearing at a candidate forum in northeast Texas Saturday, Luther, a former school teacher, said transgender children make her uncomfortable, and she complained that their classmates weren’t allowed to make fun of them. “I am not comfortable with the transgenders,” Luther told the audience of Republican voters. “The kids that they brought in my classroom, when they said that this kid is transgendering into a different sex, that I couldn’t have kids laugh at them … like, other kids got in trouble for having transgender kids in my class.”

Luther, who was answering a question about what she would do to enact conservative priorities in a divided Legislature, also cited the presence of transgender children in Texas classrooms as the reason she supports “school choice.” On her website, Luther says parents should be allowed to choose “the most appropriate type of schooling (homeschool, public, charter or private) for their child without government intrusion.” Luther’s comments drew a rebuke from Equality Texas, which advocates for the rights of gay and transgender Texans. The group’s CEO, Ricardo Martinez, said all Texas school children should “feel a sense of belonging in school so they can focus on academic success.” “Lamenting not being able to allow students to laugh at, bully and harass transgender kids isn’t leadership, it’s cruelty plain and simple,” Martinez said. “All children in Texas are guaranteed a public education under the constitution, deserve privacy and the ability to learn in a safe environment.”