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On Wednesday morning, Texas Department of Agriculture employees attended a mandatory training about equal employment opportunity led by an employment lawyer who teaches at Texas State University and served in the Navy. The training covered typical subjects for such meetings: discrimination, harassment and protected classes of employees.
At one point, the presenter broached the subject of gender identity, explaining concepts such as what makes someone “cisgender” or “transgender” and what it means to “deadname” someone, or intentionally use the name a person was given before their gender transition.
By Wednesday afternoon, the department wanted its employees to know it was sorry for the training, calling it “misinformation.”
Department leaders sent staff an email that accused the trainer of presenting a “biased view” of employment law that some TDA employees found offensive and contrary to their religious beliefs. The message, which was obtained by The Texas Tribune, did not specify any particular aspects of the presentation other than that it was “with regard to the subject of gender.”
TDA is led by Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, an outspoken conservative Republican elected statewide who has been an eager combatant in the state’s political fights over the rights of transgender people.
In April, Miller ordered employees to dress “in a manner...
President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in his rambling Wednesday speech at the Republican midterm convention. Trump repeated long-debunked lies about elections and immigration. He deliv...