In response to questions about why A&M discontinued the medical care, a university spokesperson said its growing student population and the resulting strain on the A.P. Beutel Health Center require officials to continuously review the services they offer and how they use the center’s resources. The spokesperson noted that the university has invested more in mental health care following a national rise in college students seeking it out.
Transgender and queer students are skeptical of that explanation and believe the university acted in response to pressure from conservative groups. They say the move shows the university is not willing to support them equally.
“It just seems that they don’t take the same level of care to address concerns of the queer community as they would other communities,” Klatt said.
Students saw the move as part of a political environment that has become increasingly hostile against LGBTQ+ people in Texas. And it comes as the state’s public universities face top-down pressure to appease Republican leaders — or risk incurring their wrath during next year’s legislative session.
Don’t you just love that “small government?” FFS, y’all. Please vote like people’s futures depend upon it.
And the spokesperson didn’t answer the question and redirected, no attempt to explain the reasoning around the decision. Was there a decision? It’s so vague who fucking knows. Pressure these paid lairs into answering the questions being asked.
I can’t imagine being betrayed by my school like that. I feel bad for these students. Seeking medical care as a queer person in Texas sounds scary as fuck.
The hard part is that even if they wanted to be open about the reasoning, they ultimately cowered before the authoritarians in the State government, who hold them hostage by the purse strings.
Until they are brave enough to defy the weirdos obsessed with people’s sex lives and genitals, we’ll never know if this decision was intentional or made under duress.