This year, I watched the first class I ever taught graduate from high school.
I’ve been to graduations before, so I knew what to expect. Teachers receive specific directions, and not much changes each year except the students in their seats, waiting for their names to be announced to thundering applause. But this time was different: I cried. The students who had once sat in my classroom were now heading out into the world — no longer timid and afraid.
They were immigrant children who were the first of their families to receive an education. They were queer youth who came out to their families, feeling more confident about themselves and what the world would offer them. They were students who spent their adolescence navigating a global pandemic, and they were genuine explorers ready to set out on an adventure. But I also know these students began facing the real world long before they tossed their caps into the air.
They were students who hadn’t just finished high school — they had survived it, navigating a system that too often treats their identities and stories as threats.
Instead of fostering safe, inclusive environments for all students, state lawmakers have been making Texas public schools increasingly unwelcoming, even hostile, to LGBTQIA+, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and religious minority students.
Texas students and educators are paying the price as certain state and federal politicians — backed by special interest groups — wage a coordinated campaign to censor curricula, ban books, impose state-sponsored religion, dismantle diversity programs, restrict libraries, target trans and immigrant students, and enforce discriminatory dress codes.
In my English Studies classroom, I’ve noticed which stories get removed from the shelves. The books being challenged almost always center LGBTQIA+ characters, women’s rights, racial justice, or the legacy of American imperialism — from “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude” to “The Hate U Give.”
I know firsthand how students are becoming disillusioned with every branch of our government, feeling as though policymakers don’t have their best interests in mind. They feel ignored — citing not only the policies targeting their identities, but also targeting their environment and economic class. Instead of making public schools safe places to receive an inclusive education, lawmakers are trying to silence the voices of anyone who doesn’t look or think the way they do. This is not only wrong — it can lead to harassment and bullying at school and puts students at a disadvantage to pursue the lives and careers they dream of.
Students are fearful. I get it. As an immigrant, I fear the day that ICE comes banging on my door. As a gay man, I fear the hands that would gleefully pull me away from the person I love. But through this fear, I’ve learned to love the word “yet.”
I fear the banging on the door, yet I know I have rights that will protect me. I fear losing the person at my side, yet I won’t back down from holding them close to me in those dark days. I fear that I am alone, yet I have seen millions of people take to the streets to defend my life.
Texas students: Grab onto your “yet” and hold it closely.
Take the time to learn your rights by visiting the Students’ Rights Hub or joining an upcoming training. Build tight-knit relationships within your communities. Advocate for yourself, your peers, and your loved ones. And most of all, understand that who you are is valid. No matter what, understand that you are a gift to those around you.
All students, regardless of their background, deserve to feel safe, supported, and inspired at school. They deserve the freedom to learn and the right to see themselves reflected in their education. That's not just good education policy — it's their constitutional right.
As I prepare to step into my classroom again, I am reflecting on my summer travels around our beautiful, vibrant state. I met some of the kindest people ever. And I witnessed the many ways that we’re better together.
I believe that the Texas we want can come to be. A Texas that openly embraces a population as diverse as its climates, weather patterns, fauna, food, and love and joy. A Texas with a little more shine and a little more dancing. A Texas less divided than it is now. A Texas that truly invests in its students’ futures. A Texas that feels like home again.
