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Shelley Luther, a former teacher who is a Republican candidate for the Texas state House of Representatives, has shocked people all over the country after complaining she wasn't allowed to let her students "laugh at" transgender classmates when she was a teacher.
The Houston Chronicle recorded Luther making the comments during a candidate forum last weekend. In them, Luther called her trans students "the transgenders" and said she was "not comfortable" teaching them.
She also cited transgender students as the reason she supports "school choice" so that parents can keep their children away from transgender students. Watch her comments below.
*Be forewarned that this video contains offensive language.
WATCH: Shelley Luther, a Texas GOP candidate and former teacher, said transgender children make her uncomfortable, and she complained that their classmates weren\u2019t allowed to make fun of them. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-GOP-candidate-Shelley-Luther-complains-that-16842639.php\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/R25rfROza7— Houston Chronicle (@Houston Chronicle) 1644363152
In her comments, which were rife with ignorant and outdated language about transgender children, Luther said:
"I am not comfortable with the transgenders."
"The kids that they brought in my classroom when they said that this kid is transgendering into a different sex, that I couldn't have kids laugh at them … like, other kids got in trouble for having transgender kids in my class."
Luther is a former Spanish teacher and hair salon owner running as a self-proclaimed "true Christian Conservative Republican" for House District 62 in Northeast Texas. She rose to prominence in 2020 after defying Republican Governor Greg Abbott's shuttering of hair salons and barber shops in Texas during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luther kept her salon in Dallas open and was sentenced to seven days in jail for violating the state's order. She was released after two, and became a conservative hero for defying the state's pandemic precautions, particularly after Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz made a point of getting a haircut at her salon.
In addition to virulent bigotry towards transgender children, Luther's platform also includes a xenophobic obsession with "communist Chinese infiltration" of America and is calling for a ban on Chinese students from Texas's colleges.
Her campaign website reads:
"We should not allow Chinese Nationals into our colleges where they can obtain classified information, steal technology, and essentially learn how to defeat the United States."
Luther also calls permitless gun ownership a "God-given right" and calls for stricter bans on abortion in Texas, which already has the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.
On Twitter, people were reviled by her rhetoric against transgender children.
Im rarely speechless\u2026\u2026 \n\nA Republican running for a Texas state House of Representatives seat over the weekend complained that while she was a school teacher she had not been allowed to let her students \u201claugh at\u201d transgender classmates.https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/593686-texas-gop-candidate-says-she-is-not-comfortable\u00a0\u2026— midageandfedup (@midageandfedup) 1644511945
how very christian of Shelley Luther to encourage young people to make fun of others. what would jesus do?— Moon Goddess Massage and Reiki (@Moon Goddess Massage and Reiki) 1644381378
Whoa. She was upset that kids couldn\u2019t laugh or make fun or embarrass other kids in her class??— Jim Organ (@Jim Organ) 1644380487
@ShelleyLuther care to explain? Being trans does NOT diminish an individuals worth you transphobic BIGOT\n\nCheck out Big Red Celt's video! #TikTokhttps://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdBhmYjX/— Alyssa Laverty (@Alyssa Laverty) 1644774702
Absolutely unreal. They\u2019re people. People are people are people. It literally has no impact on your life. Love who you love. Be who you are. This stuff makes me so mad. How can you be unbelievably selfish?— katkersten (@katkersten) 1644558684
Laugh at them? She couldn't have the other kids laugh at them? NO ONE should laugh at and bully other people. Especially not children, they don't realize the trauma they can cause to a young child.— Rayne T (@Rayne T) 1644556547
an incredible moment in which shelley luther goes into standby mode for 10 seconds after advocating for bullying trans kids before rebooting with \u201cschool choice!\u201d like she\u2019s landing a version of the aristocratspic.twitter.com/QKxMQTlS9k— Ulysses S. Cocksman (@Ulysses S. Cocksman) 1644420437
\u201cI couldn\u2019t have kids laugh at them\u201d Shelley Luther (R), Candidate\n\nShe complains her other students aren\u2019t allowed to taunt a transgender\n\nSince when is any taunting ever ok?\n\nMorality is not GOP trait. Remember that when you vote next.\n\n#ONEV1\n#OVArrowhttps://politicalwire.com/2022/02/09/gop-candidate-complains-students-cant-taunt-trans-kids/\u00a0\u2026— Limmer neener neener \ud83c\udf08 (@Limmer neener neener \ud83c\udf08) 1644548190
This Shelley Luther person thinks we're making her uncomfortable, when really we trans folk are uncomfortable every gosh dang day because of bigots and jerks like her.https://twitter.com/HoustonChron/status/1491193256545243139\u00a0\u2026— 6823 Catgirls wanting to Punch Nazis (@6823 Catgirls wanting to Punch Nazis) 1644434000
There\u2019s no hate quite like Christian love— Wear Your Mask (@Wear Your Mask) 1644410251
Luther faces incumbent Republican Representative Reggie Smith in the Texas Republican Primary, which will be held on March 1. She previously ran for the Texas State Senate in 2020, which resulted in a double-digit loss.