Ken Paxton Goes After Dallas ISD for 'Illegally Allowing Boys to Play in Girls’ Sports'

The Texas AG continues targeting school districts for an assortment of DEI and transgender issues.

March 31, 2025

Image: Women's soccer is huge in North Texas high schools.

Women's soccer is huge in North Texas high schools. Christopher Durbin

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Dallas Independent School District has again entered Ken Paxton's crosshairs.

On Monday, the Texas attorney general filed a legal petition to depose top DISD officials as part of an ongoing investigation into whether the district is permitting biological males to participate in girls' sports.

"In February, Attorney General Paxton requested extensive records from Dallas ISD related to alarming evidence that the District had implemented an unwritten policy of encouraging students to alter their birth certificates to play sports in violation of the Texas law prohibiting a student from competing in interscholastic athletic competitions designated for the opposite biological sex," a statement reads.

Issues pertaining to transgender students and gender-affirming care have grabbed a great deal of attention from not only Paxton in recent months but from Gov. Greg Abbott as well.

Paxton and Abbott were both vocal in their shock and disdain when an Irving ISD administrator was caught on a secretly recorded video appearing to tell a prospective student's parent how to circumvent the rules established on which teams a student can play. Paxton has also recently gone after Coppell ISD for what he says is "illegally teaching woke and hateful critical race theory."

Among the DISD officials Paxton looks to depose are Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde and LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston.

Gaston has been filmed telling a parent that a male student would be allowed to participate in girls’ sports if the parent changed the birth certificate of their son to “female,” the statement reads. "She also said that the district “find[s] the loopholes in everything” and that she is willing to go to jail for defying Texas law."

Representatives from Dallas ISD did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Abbott signed House Bill 25 in 2021, making it legally required for student-athletes to play only on the team that aligns with their gender assignment at birth.

Kelly Dearmore is news editor of the Dallas Observer. He’s held the position since November 2022. Since joining the team, Kelly has covered topics such as state and local politics, crime and public safety, education and immigration. A native Texan, Kelly has contributed to other publications including Texas Monthly, Dallas Morning News, Success Magazine and Cowboys & Indians Magazine.

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