Two University of Texas professors are challenging President Joe Biden's administration over new rules it issued prohibiting discrimination against transgender and nonbinary students as well as students who seek abortions.
Now plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit, UT professors Daniel A. Bonevac and John Hatfield, in near-identical declarations filed May 13, say they will not excuse class absences for students who get elective abortions and will not honor requests to refer to students by the pronoun "they," often used as a singular pronoun by nonbinary people.
The professors' lawsuit claims the U.S. Department of Education overstepped its authority when it issued new regulations forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics or pregnancy status. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the suit in early May.
The rules at issue, released April 19 and set to go into effect Aug. 1, expand the interpretation of Title IX — the 1972 federal statute that forbids gender-based discrimination in all federally funded education programs, including athletic programs — to also protect against unequal treatment of students who become pregnant, terminate a pregnancy or are recovering from pregnancy, and "strengthen requirements that schools provide reasonable modifications for students based on pregnancy or related conditions."
The rules also include guidance that schools and universities excuse students who miss class to terminate their pregnancies "for as long as the student’s physician deems medically necessary" and that they not discriminate against such students.
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In the lawsuit, Donevac, a professor of philosophy, and Hatfield, a finance professor, argue that this provision preempts Texas' ban on elective abortions and that it "is another attempt by the Biden Administration to nullify Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org.," the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.
"I will certainly accommodate students who are seeking medically necessary abortions in response to a pregnancy that threatens the student’s life or health," Bonevac and Hatfield each wrote in their declarations. "But I will not accommodate a purely elective abortion that serves only to kill an unborn child that was conceived through an act of voluntary and consensual sexual intercourse."
Texas' abortion ban allows physicians to terminate a pregnancy only when a pregnant patient's life is at risk or the patient could suffer substantial impairment of a major bodily function. The bans make no exception for rape, incest or fatal fetal diagnoses.
At UT, however,the Disability and Access Officecan provide accommodation letters to students who miss class for health reasons to give to their professors. These letters do not list specific diagnoses, and students do not have to disclose those reasons to professors.
In their suit, Bonevac and Hatfield also rail against federal requirements to respect students' chosen pronouns, calling their usage "delusional."
“‘They’ is a plural pronoun, and it is ungrammatical to use a plural pronoun to refer to a single person," Bonevac's declaration states. "I will not violate the rules of grammar or make a fool of myself to accommodate a student’s delusional beliefs."
The professors add that they are "not opposed to hiring a cross-dresser or transvestite" — outdated terms, sometimes considered slurs, referring to transgender people — as teaching assistants, as long as they do not engage in "cross-dressing" or wear "drag attire" while on the job.
In the new protections for LGBTQ+ students, the Department of Justice repeatedly cites the Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which decided that firing people for their sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to "sex discrimination."
Paxton's office, in its complaint, takes issue with the federal government's use of that court reference, citing the justices' statement that their decision does not "sweep beyond Title VII to other federal or state laws that prohibit sex discrimination” or address “sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, and dress codes.”
UT'snondiscrimination policy protects students and employees from discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression and pregnancy. There is also no dress code at UT, though individual units may have professional dress code guidelines or uniforms.
The Department of Investigation and Adjudication is a neutral investigator at UT that looks into reported cases of discrimination and harassment. UT students can also report policies, such as a dress code, that they think violate their rights.
The Department of Education declined to comment on the pending litigation. Hatfield and Bonevac did not respond to the Statesman's requests for comment.
