‘This school district has failed him’: Trans Katy teen drops out after gender policy passes

Despite the air of confidence he typically wore through the halls, 17-year-old Kadence Carter suffered through most days at Mayde Creek High School in Katy.

Several of his classmates constantly bullied and misgendered Kadence, a transgender male. He wore multiple chest binders every day to school, which dug aching craters into his shoulders and stained his skin with bruises. He avoided drinking water the entire eight-hour school day so he wouldn’t need to use the boys’ bathroom, where he worried about getting beaten up.

The unrelenting struggles Kadence faced came to a head in August 2023, when the Katy Independent School District board of trustees passed a controversial gender identity policy opposed by many LGBTQ+ students and advocates. One day after the policy went into effect, a teacher held up the attendance roster in front of Kadence, pointed to his deadname and said, “We’re going back to this one now,” he recalled.