{"id":219481,"date":"2026-02-04T12:42:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/?p=219481"},"modified":"2026-02-04T15:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:34:00","slug":"texas-am-mccoul-lawsuit-gender-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/02\/04\/texas-am-mccoul-lawsuit-gender-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Fired after gender identity lesson, professor sues Texas A&amp;M, arguing her free speech rights were violated"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_eQjyeHOEGAP?client=wp&amp;client_version=3.0.3&amp;ui_cover_art=false&amp;ui_title_intro=Listen+to+this+article&amp;ui_title_icon=headphones\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><style>.wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed { margin: 0 !important; }<\/style><div class=\"everlit-disclaimer\" style=\"margin: 0;\"><div style=\"margin-top: -0.5rem;font-size: 0.7rem;color: #4a4a4a;font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\">Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/about\/ethics\/#ai-policy\">AI policy<\/a>, and give us <a href=\"https:\/\/airtable.com\/appFeleeKVUN0Iytx\/pagPG40gbkU0EfjIr\/form\">feedback<\/a>.<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Months after Texas A&amp;M fired a professor over a gender identity lesson, she is suing the university, alleging administrators knowingly violated her free speech and due process rights to appease political critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/McCoul-Complaint-1.pdf\">federal lawsuit<\/a> filed Tuesday in Houston, former A&amp;M lecturer Melissa McCoul added new details to how her firing unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCoul\u2019s lawsuit says Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.texastribune.org\/greg-abbott\/\">Greg Abbott\u2019s<\/a> chief of staff contacted then-university President Mark A. Welsh III to press for her termination and that Provost Alan Sams was told by his supervisors not to give her a required hearing beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCoul, who had worked for the university since 2017, said in a statement that she would never have conceived of suing a year ago, describing teaching at A&amp;M as her \u201cdream job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no satisfaction in doing this, only sadness,\u201d she said. \u201cI had hoped to keep doing that work for many years to come. Despite how I was treated, I still love the institution, my former colleagues, and the students of A&amp;M. I hope that this lawsuit will cause the University to think twice about treating others similarly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCoul sued the Texas A&amp;M University System, the nine regents, Chancellor Glenn Hegar, Welsh, interim President Tommy Williams and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs James Hallmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She is asking a judge to declare that she did not violate any law or university policy by teaching about gender identity and \u201cwas, instead, terminated for exercising her academic freedom guaranteed under the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCoul is also seeking reinstatement to her position and punitive damages, back pay and other restitution. She was on year two of a three-year contract when she was fired in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The firing came after state Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.texastribune.org\/brian-harrison\/\">Brian Harrison<\/a>, R-Midlothian, posted on X a video a student secretly recorded of McCoul teaching about gender identity in a summer children\u2019s literature class. The student had confronted her, arguing the lesson violated President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no law against teaching about gender identity. In the lawsuit, McCoul said the children\u2019s literature course was \u201cnot intended as an overview of books that educators or parents might read with or to children\u201d but \u201cas a lens through which various aspects of society are examined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the months since the firing, A&amp;M and other public universities in Texas have reviewed course offerings and, in some instances, cancelled courses or limited course content that could be seen as controversial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&amp;M passed a policy prohibiting courses from \u201cadvocating race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity\u201d except in certain non-core or graduate courses that are reviewed, shown to serve a \u201cnecessary educational purpose\u201d and approved in writing by a president at the system\u2019s 12 campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDr. McCoul\u2019s firing was the canary in the coal mine for Texas A&amp;M University,\u201d Brian Evans, president of the American Association of University Professors Texas Conference, said in a statement. \u201cThey had a chance to stand up to the politicians seeking to meddle in Texas universities, and instead they caved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCoul is a member of AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers, which are covering her legal fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Bryan, A&amp;M\u2019s vice chancellor of marketing and communications, said the system is aware of the lawsuit but has not been served with a copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs this is pending litigation, we will not comment further, but we intend to vigorously defend against the claims,\u201d Bryan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asked about the lawsuit\u2019s reference to the role Abbott\u2019s chief of staff played in McCoul\u2019s firing, a spokesman for the governor\u2019s office said the state\u2019s universities should focus on delivering a high-quality education, not political agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRadical DEI and gender ideologies will not be forced on students by Texas higher education institutions,\u201d press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. \u201cGovernor Abbott expects our higher education campuses to continue to focus on developing our students into the best and brightest in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Disclosure: Texas A&amp;M University and Texas A&amp;M University System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/support-us\/corporate-sponsors\/\">list of them here<\/a>.<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- \/wp:post-content --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melissa McCoul, arguing she was fired to appease political critics, is seeking to get her job back and other restitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":219479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"everlit_article_id":"artl_eQjyeHOEGAP","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"large","everlit_generation_settings":{"embed_ui_cover_art":false,"embed_ui_title_intro":"Listen to this 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