Texas School Board Keeps Gender-Neutral Dress Code Linked to Former DEI Council

Despite objections from two trustees, the Midlothian Independent School District in Texas voted to keep a gender-neutral dress code that Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison says was created by a diversity, equity, and inclusion council established in 2020.

Documents Harrison provided to the Daily Signal show that, in 2020, the diversity council for the district recommended adopting a gender-neutral dress code that eliminated separate standards for boys and girls and sought to protect students’ “emotional well-being.” The meeting about revising the dress code was discussed on Facebook and listed in the Midlothian ISD board’s July 20, 2020, agenda.

As seen in the Midlothian ISD document below from 2020, recommendations for a gender-neutral dress code aimed to “no longer separate girls/boys” and “celebrate diversity.”

Six years later, at the board of trustees July 20, 2026, meeting, one trustee, Ed Harrison, the father of Rep. Brian Harrison, questioned whether the policy would prevent “a boy from wearing a dress to school.” The interaction was captured in a video segment of the meeting posted on X.

In the video, Krista Tipton, the district’s student services administrator, told Ed Harrison the dress code does not explicitly prohibit biological males from wearing dresses. Instead, the policy addresses dress and skirt length without distinguishing between male and female students.

Ed Harrison also referenced an incident in neighboring Red Oak ISD involving an English teacher who identifies as a transgender woman. He said the teacher wore dresses to school and asked students to address him as ‘Ma’am’ and ‘Miss.’ He also cited an instance of a boy wearing a dress at school.

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Following Ed Harrison’s comments, board Secretary John Knight questioned whether the concerns were important and urged the board to approve the policy for another year without changes. 

“What I would say is, I’m on those campuses quite often. Between visiting my own kids, mentoring others’ kids, and attending sporting events, I don’t see offensive dress,” Knight said.

Knight then made a motion to approve the policy: “Out of respect to administration, and the people that deal with it each day … I’m going to make a motion to approve as requested.”

The board then approved the dress code in a 3-2-1 vote. Trustees John Knight, Gary Vineyard, and Ryan Timm voted in favor, and Ed Harrison and Jessica Ward voted against. Trustee Brandi Vess abstained.

Brian Harrison said the vote showed the lasting influence of the district’s former DEI initiative.

“The liberal majority on the MISD school board are trying to make up other reasons for why this is there: ‘Oh, it’s about the teachers,’ ‘Oh, it’s about the harassment,’” Harrison said. “No, it’s an objective fact [that] this [MISD dress code policy] was the product of a DEI committee.”

Brian Harrison argued the vote reflects a broader trend in Republican-controlled areas where “liberals have taken over” many local governments.

“Liberals control governments for three main reasons: We have open primaries, off-cycle elections—which means nobody runs—and we have this pretense of non-partisanship,” he said.

He added that “people who are committed leftists” campaign in nonpartisan, off-cycle elections and are elected by relatively few voters.

Ed Harrison also told the Daily Signal he was surprised to learn how the current policy has been developed. 

“Over the last year, I have been shocked as I came to understand the dreadful implications of the MISD dress code and that, before I was elected, it was written by an ISD-commissioned DEI committee,” he said. “MISD taxpayers should not be forced to fund transgenderism.”

“The current policy puts teachers and administrators at risk by unfairly shifting the burden to them. We must have standards, and boys should not be allowed to wear dresses at school,” Ed Harrison continued. “Public schools are for education, not liberal indoctrination.”