Texas Tech instructs faculty to recognize 'only two sexes'

The chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, Tedd L Mitchell, directed faculty at the five public universities under its umbrella to recognize "only two human sexes: male and female."

This was communicated during the week in a memo, explaining that the change was due to current federal and state regulations. Mitchell said that while he recognizes the "First Amendment rights of employees in their personal capacity," at the professional level they must abide by the law, both "within the course" and under the "scope of their employment" in general.

"I recognize that members of our community may hold differing personal views on these matters. Regardless, in your role as a state employee, compliance with the law is required," he insisted. And he called for making necessary changes to comply with the regulations:

"I appreciate your continued diligence in reviewing course materials, curricula, syllabi, and other instructional documents and following established procedures to make timely adjustments where needed," the memo read.

Elsewhere in the statement, the chancellor asserts that he believes it is necessary to clarify the directive due to "recent developments at universities across Texas."

Although he does not provide further details, he could be alluding to a viral video of a Texas A&M University student who protested in class the teaching of topics that did not conform to the two-sex policy. "I am not going to participate in this because it’s not, it’s not legal, and I don’t want to promote something that is against our president’s laws as well as against my religious beliefs," she complains in the recording.

Access the full memo

Texas follows in Trump's footsteps

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order stating that "is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes." "These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality," says the text, which also establishes definitions for "woman," "man," "female," "male" and "gender ideology."

Shortly thereafter, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter to state agencies directing them to obey the president's order. "The State of Texas recognizes only two sexes," he said. Months later, he signed this mandate into law, via a state House bill. Less than a week ago Abbott took it a step further by signing a bill to restrict bathroom access in Texas based on biological sex.

During Joe Biden's presidency, the governor ran as the resistance to his policies on sex. For example, he ordered Texas educational institutions to ignore the Democrat's reinterpretation of Title IX, in which he expanded the definition of "sex" in anti-discrimination regulations to include gender identity and sexual orientation. The measure was later reversed by Trump's Department of Education: