LGBTQ+ Youth in the School-to-Prison Pipeline

By Leanne Villegas and Osgar Nugent

The school-to-prison pipeline is a problem that is far from resolved in the U.S. While some states like New Jersey are making progress in combating adverse childhood experiences that lead to high rates of youth incarceration and recidivism, others are falling behind. One of these states that is falling behind is Texas; over the past three years, Texan lawmakers have had multiple chances at banning conversion therapy. But, Texas’ chances haven’t yielded a positive outcome for conversion therapy yet.

To specify, conversion therapy is an arrangement facilitated by parents or guardians that comes in multiple forms (some examples being psychotherapy and shock therapy) with an end goal of converting a child away from their natural sexuality and towards heterosexuality and heteronormativity. This inevitably targets LGBTQ+ youth, who are more likely to experience harsh disciplinary treatment in school and thus become more likely to enter the criminal justice system. In Texas, this could mean abuses beyond what LGBTQ+ youth have already experienced in the school system.

Texas House Bill 517, initially proposed in a 2019 legislative session, was an attempt to create an outright ban on conversion therapy for children. The bill was eventually redrafted and proposed again in 2021 as Texas House Bill 560. Referenced by Equality Texas as a landmark bill for LGBTQ+ rights, the bill also includes language encouraging support of sexuality in therapeutic settings.

TX HB560 is attempting to follow a string of conversion therapy bans in states like New Jersey, which provided a positive blueprint for LGBTQ+ people as it was the first state to legally ban conversion therapy, and their legislation was signed into law by then-Governor Chris Christie, a religious conservative. In an August 2013 article from the Huffington Post’s Politics section, former executive director of Garden State Equality, Troy Stevenson, had this to say after Christie signed a ban on conversion therapy into law:

“It is our truest hope that the governor will realize, as the majority of the legislature and a super-majority of the public have realized, that the best way to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth are protected from the abuse of being ostracized is to provide them with equality.”

This seems to be a belief that has made it to Texas, and specifically into the advocacy of Rep. Celia Israel (D-Travis County). A spokesperson for Rep. Celia Israel, who was the main sponsor of TX HB560, gave the following statement (without wishing to disclose their identity) during an interview:

“She decided to author the legislation because she supported the issue, and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community she wanted to author it,” said the spokesperson.

TX HB560 died in committee and will have to be redrafted for a future Texas legislative session. But, quantifying the positive effects of pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy in Texas, there is immense potential for financial benefits for the state of Texas if they guarantee LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination rights. A study published in May 2020 by the Perryman Group says that if Texas guaranteed equal rights for LGBTQ+ people, by 2045 Texas could add over 700,000 new jobs and stimulate the state’s gross product by an additional $1.3 trillion USD.

To learn more about conversion therapy, click on the bubble in the bottom right: