The action follows the release of undercover recordings shared by a Texas lawmaker that triggered a Justice Department investigation.
Two officials at Texas A&M University have been removed from their posts, and a Justice Department investigation has been launched after a viral video showed a professor telling a student she was free to leave a “children’s literature” class when she objected to a lesson on gender identity.
Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican and Texas A&M alumnus, shared multiple clips from undercover recordings on Sept. 8. In one video, the student questioned whether the lesson was legal, citing President Donald Trump’s directive “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to The Federal Government,” which recognizes two sexes—male and female. The disputed lesson included teaching that there are more than two genders.
🚨CAUGHT ON TAPE: TEXAS A&M STUDENT KICKED OUT OF CLASS AFTER OBJECTING TO TRANSGENDER INDOCTRINATION… and A&M President defends "LGBTQ Studies."
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) September 8, 2025
I'm referring @TAMU to the Trump Administration for investigation… and asking Gov @GregAbbott_TX to fire the A&M officials… pic.twitter.com/J6IWsfw62I
In another clip, the professor told the student she was “very free to leave, and now is the time to do that.” Harrison also released audio in which the student appealed directly to Texas A&M University System President Mark A. Welsh III to dismiss the professor. Welsh replied, “That’s not happening.”
Audio of Texas A&M President defending the need to teach LGBTQ courses… to train future "school superintendents." pic.twitter.com/eJCMutmrQj
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) September 8, 2025
The student said in one of the recordings that the classroom material not only appeared to violate Trump’s directive but also went against her personal religious beliefs.
Harrison said he referred the matter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and formally requested a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation. He called for the termination of Welsh and the A&M officials involved, and to instruct regents at all public universities to “immediately end all DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and LGBTQ indoctrination.”
In a letter to federal officials and posted on X, Harrison alleged that students were “forced to learn the ‘gender unicorn,’” which he said “propagandizes extreme transgender ideology.” He also alleged that the professor assigned materials that appeared to normalize “child grooming” and taught that “childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender.”
Harmeet Dhillon, U.S. assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, responded on social media that her office would review the matter, calling the allegations “deeply concerning.”
By Tom Ozimek
