Texas has been one of the early adopters of Trump-era policies that deny the rights of people who don’t fall within the cis-het, male, and white identity. The state has enacted numerous laws and policies that have enabled rampant book banning in public schools. Anti-DEI laws–those intended to deny inclusive education to marginalized people–are on the books, including anti-DEI laws that direct public colleges and universities in the state to dismantle their affinity programs and projects. We’ve seen the impact all of these laws have had, not only in complete school library shut downs, not only in the use of AI to remove books from schools, and not only in the removal of readings in university classes where the only attendees are full-grown adults (that course was ultimately canceled). In early 2026, children’s author Chris Barton learned that his author visit with Alamo Heights Independent School District had been canceled. This happened after three parents complained that one of his books explored the history of glitter. The book included references to LGBTQ+ people, which was …