Catarina Wilfong | Writer
April 18, 2025
Recently, in the Texas House of Representatives, an awkward moment occurred in which Andy Hopper, a Texas Republican Representative, revealed his lack of knowledge on a topic he took upon himself to make legal decisions about. This sparked important conversations regarding representation, education, and the consequences that come with uninformed policy-making.
During a debate on defunding the program supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the University of Texas, Andy Hopper was prompted by his colleague, Democratic Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons, on if he knew about intersex individuals and how he planned to address them in terms of his plan to defund the DEI program. He then responded with a shocking yet to the point “I don’t even know what that means, ma’am,” revealing his lack of education on the topic and differences of gender and sex.
While some may argue that this group is so small, it may not matter, the 1.7% of people in America that are intersex may disagree, especially when he is originally targeting a minority that makes up less than 5% of America. Also, SCHS junior, Noah Santana, explained his frustration with this topic for he wonders how lawmakers could be trusted when they “don’t even know who they are making laws about.”
Intersex individuals being left out of conversations regarding rights, healthcare, and representation is concerning enough on its own for it lacks inclusivity. What is more concerning is that after Hopper admitted to his lack of knowledge regarding intersex people, he began to make false claims about it, further showing his lack of education on the topic. Hopper claimed that intersex people are still either XX or XY, but was quickly corrected by his colleague, Republican Representative Valoree Swanson, who whispered to him “Andy, that’s not true.” While her silent correction was simply meant for Hopper, the microphone picked it up and displayed this awkward interaction to everyone in the room, leading to concern and scandal.
Kieran Moran, a junior at SCHS, explained his frustration on the topic, relating this incident to students and claiming that “if this happened in a classroom, we’d get called out for not knowing the material” and said that he hoped “politicians [would] be held to at least the same standard.” While it is okay for people to make mistakes, one of this magnitude is quite tricky.
On one hand, being uninformed about something is nothing to be ashamed of as long as one stay open-minded and plan to learn more. However, when one is in charge of making legal decisions regarding a certain topic or group of people, they should ensure that they are fully educated on the topic to avoid making a bad decision.
It is good to remember that ignorance from lawmakers is not just embarrassing, it is dangerous. When government leaders do not understand the people they represent, they cannot truly support them. Defunding DEI programs that exist to support LGBTQ+, intersex, and other minority groups could be very harmful, because, for some, these programs could be life-changing.
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