(Texas Scorecard) – Texas A&M University-Central Texas will present a faculty spotlight on sociology professor Michelle Dietert’s research on sexuality and “transgender” veterans.
Her presentation will focus on “one sociologist’s journey to understanding how those who do not conform to binary gender norms navigate their lives around those constructs,” reads the university general news webpage.
Dietert’s areas of research interest include “The Military Experiences of Transgender Individuals,” according to her CV on the school’s website.
The presentation is entitled “Invisible No More: The Journey to Understand Transgender Experiences” and examines “what it means to be transgender and non-binary.”
David Pickup, President of Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity, expressed concern over A&M-Central Texas elevating the transgender narrative. “It will be harmful for these students to hear there is such a thing as a man born in a woman’s body, or vice-versa, when there is no scientific evidence to prove this.”
“It will be harmful for students to hear how healthy body parts are cut off in unproven (over-long term) treatments that promote a delusion and yet render a person to experience permanent mutilation of the body,” he added. “It will be harmful if these students do not hear that operative treatment may feel good for a short period when over the long term these patients will still be suffering from the deep trauma that has caused their dysphoria.”
Dietert has a history of advancing the transgender ideology. One of her recent research endeavors featured in her profile is a 2022 article in the Journal of Homosexuality entitled “Transgender Military Experiences: From Obama to Trump.” The article includes interviews from 26 “transgender” individuals serving in the military during the Obama administration, with the goal of analyzing Trump’s transgender military ban.
According to Dietert’s profile on the school’s website, she currently teaches the courses Sociology of the Body, Military Family, Sociology of Sexuality, Gender in Society, Sociological Theory, Methods of Social Research, and Social Psychology at A&M-Central Texas. She has taught a course in Special Topics: Transgender Studies where she specified in the course syllabus that a learning objective was “to appreciate diversity (age, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, social class, sexual orientation, dis/ability) in individuals and understand how these are related to gender and sexuality by taking an intersectional approach.”
Dietert’s profile also mentions the Gay Straight Alliance Warriors (GSAW), a student group she created. GSAW has conducted “safe space” training for staff and community forums, including one in 2012 entitled “Tolerance is not acceptance: Understanding the Diversity of the LGBT Community.” In addition to training, GSAW has donated LGBT books to children’s libraries.
The public on-campus faculty spotlight will take place on September 19, and “students studying all disciplines are encouraged to attend.”
Texas Scorecard asked Texas A&M-Central Texas for comment. No response was received before publication.