According to the university's course catalog, the undergraduate minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer plus (LGBTQ+) Studies "prepares students to examine the ways in which gender and sexuality are socially constructed and offers a critical understanding on how sexuality and sexual orientation shape gender roles, identities, and social statuses in societies."
But Jonathan Covey, policy director with Texas Values, does not understand how that will benefit students in the real world.
"For a state school like Texas A&M, the question is why are they interested in pushing radical ideology? This is useless in terms of preparing college students for the real work world," he submits. "Young people today have a hard enough time breaking into the workforce without their own universities abandoning them for garbage education that employers aren't going to touch."
Texas A&M further describes the program as one that focuses on the history and practice of social activism and the now extensive scholarship on LGBT people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Students can also expect to learn about so-called "homophobia" and "transphobia" and their relationship to racism, ableism, classism, sexism, and other forms of power. They will also look into the experiences of sexually deviant individuals' experiences in history and social movements.
"What this really is is political and social acclamation for a particular worldview," Covey summarizes. "That's not the job of colleges. In fact, that's not the job of anyone other than the individuals themselves."
"The other side of this coin is that public tax dollars should not be subsidizing schools that push these issues," he adds.
The best advice Covey has for Texas A&M is stop focusing on theoretical learning so much and help young people develop practical knowledge in hard sciences and maths.
