Dallas ISD has an LGBTQ program that is run by an organization that enables transgender hormone usage and provides references for sex alteration surgeries.
The Out for Safe Schools program at Dallas ISD instructs teachers on “intervention strategies for instances of harassment and name-calling which often occur toward LGBTQ students.” The program is run by the Resource Center, which has a clinic that offers “gender-affirming services” on Cedar Springs Road. The clinic administers transgender hormones and issues clearance letters for sex alteration surgeries.
“Resource Center offers medical letters of support for people seeking our HRT services,” the group’s website states. “For established counseling patients, we can also provide assessments and clearance letters for gender confirmation surgeries or legal services (e.g., name change, gender-marker change).”
The Out for Schools program was launched in 2018, according to the district.
Robyn Harris, executive director of Dallas ISD’s communications team, told The Dallas Express the program is an optional training for teachers in the district to “ensure all students have a safe school experience.” When asked if the program instructs teachers to promote transgender hormone usage, Harris said it “does not provide hormone therapy for any student.”
“Based on board policy, Dallas ISD is a safe and welcoming district that provides a non-discriminatory environment for all students,” she said.
Harris said at the time of the program’s launch that teachers refer students to psychologists and the Resource Center.
“For professional help, they can make referrals to psychologists, Resource Center, Youth First,” she told the Dallas Voice.
Harris did not respond to questions asked by The Dallas Express about whether her previous comment implied teachers encourage students to seek transgender hormones.
The Youth First program referenced by Harris is also run by the Resource Center and promoted by Dallas ISD. The Resource Center, as a part of the Youth First program, hosts a “support group for transgender and gender-diverse youth” at its property on Cedar Springs — the same location as its clinic. Meetings include topics such as “Queer Sex Ed” and “gender identity.”
LGBTQ activists in favor of minors learning about and pursuing gender transitions cite research suggesting that “social transitioning” and transgender hormone usage result in fewer mental health disorders and less substance abuse in transgender individuals. It is worth noting however that high suicide rates persist among transgender people regardless of their stage of transition.
The Dallas Voice previously reported that the Out for Schools program was made possible by funding from Toyota. Harris told The Dallas Express that this was “not factual,” as there are “no charges” for the program. Toyota did not respond to a request for comment.
Emails obtained by The Dallas Express show the program has been a topic of discussion among Dallas ISD leaders this year. Joe Carreón, a member of Dallas ISD’s board of trustees, emailed Resource Center employees in June to schedule a meeting about the program.
“Do you have some time either Tuesday or Wednesday to visit with my colleague Leslie McMurray and I?” Rafael McDonnell, the senior advocacy, policy, and communications manager for the Resource Center, wrote to Carreón.
“As you probably know, our mutual friend Mahoganie Gaston’s job as LGBTQIA liaison ended with the school year, and Leslie and I could use your assistance and guidance on the Center’s Out for Safe Schools partnership with DISD,” McDonnell continued.
“I can visit the center if you are both already there,” Carreón responded. “I am due for a visit.”
Gaston previously worked on the program to establish Gender & Sexuality (formerly “Gay-Straight)” Alliance chapters at every middle school and high school in the district, the Dallas Voice reported.
Carreón and the Resource Center did not respond to requests for comment on what was discussed at the meeting.
The “Support Services for LGBTQ Youth” Dallas ISD webpage promotes the Out for Safe Schools program, as well as an extensive list of LGBTQ programs and organizations, which includes an endorsement of the Genecis transgender youth clinic in Dallas. The clinic used to administer transgender hormones to minors. The clinic stopped offering such services to minors in response to a Texas law enacted this year that prohibits the practice.
Dallas ISD promotes several LGBTQ organizations on its webpage, including the Trevor Project, which advocates for access to transgender hormones on the part of minors.
A September investigation by The Dallas Express found that Dallas ISD is set to partner with a left-wing organization to host an after-school sex education program in the district. The organization Healthy Futures of Texas (HFT) advocates against abstinence-focused sex education and opt-in parental forms for sex education in Texas.
Documents obtained by The Dallas Express through a public information request found the after-school course has a lesson titled “Gender and Sexual Orientation,” which covers “LGBTQ+ Bias and Its Effects.”
HFT promotes the Resource Center on its “data + resources for youth” webpage. The HFT webpage also links to Sex etc., an organization that advertised “National Masturbation Month” as a way to “give yourself some love.” Sex etc. also has a “Condom Game” and “Crash Course in Gender & Gender Identity” on its website that promotes transgender hormone usage and sex alteration surgeries.
Note: This article was updated on November 2, 2023, at 1:33 p.m. to incorporate supplemental data.