On October 1, 2025, the landscape of LGBTQ rights and public policy in the United States shifted in several dramatic ways, with major developments unfolding from Oklahoma to Colorado and the United Kingdom. These changes have reignited debates about inclusion, fairness, and the role of government in shaping the everyday lives of LGBTQ individuals—especially youth and families.
In Oklahoma, the resignation of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters set off a wave of public celebration and renewed scrutiny of the state’s recent direction in education policy. Walters, who had become a lightning rod for controversy during his two-and-a-half-year tenure, announced he would leave his post to lead the Teachers Freedom Alliance, a lobbying group affiliated with the Freedom Foundation. According to local reports, the news was met with widespread relief, with even local businesses hosting anti-Ryan Walters parties to mark his departure.
Walters’ tenure was defined by a series of hardline, anti-transgender initiatives that drew national attention. As reported by multiple outlets, he routinely targeted transgender students and policies that affirmed their identities, at times spreading misinformation—such as the widely debunked claim that trans-affirming policies led to students using litterboxes instead of bathrooms. He also launched aggressive campaigns against teachers, librarians, and inclusive literature, which resulted in bomb threats and the censorship of textbooks addressing gender and sexual diversity. Walters dismissed such content as part of a “radical gender ideology that has no place in our classrooms.”
But Walters’ culture war didn’t stop at LGBTQ issues. Over the summer of 2024, he attempted to mandate the distribution of Trump-branded Christian Bible-Constitutions in public schools, a move that sparked lawsuits from legal advocacy groups concerned about the separation of church and state. The initiative’s rollout in September 2025 proved contentious, particularly after it was revealed that the distributed documents omitted the 11th through 27th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution—including those abolishing slavery and granting women the right to vote. A Bible publisher told KFOR, a local news station, “The decision was made to only include the original founding fathers’ documents, as Amendments 11-27 were added at later dates.”
Walters also faced criticism for promoting “Judeo-Christian values” in the state’s social studies standards, which included debunked claims about election fraud and COVID-19. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately ordered the Department of Education to halt the implementation of these standards, siding with parents who argued that the policy pressured students to conform to religious beliefs contrary to their upbringing.
Political leaders from both parties voiced their disapproval of Walters’ approach. Governor Kevin Stitt, who had initially appointed Walters, publicly rebuked him after disappointing state education scores, saying, “After months of headlines followed by disappointing NAEP scores this month, it’s clear that our education infrastructure has fallen prey to needless political drama.” Attorney General Gentner Drummond was even more pointed, stating, “Ever since Gov. Stitt appointed Ryan Walters to serve as Secretary of Education, we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama. It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools.”
Walters’ resignation, however, does not mark the end of the challenges facing LGBTQ students and educators in Oklahoma. As the outgoing superintendent himself wrote in his farewell letter, “This chapter may be closing, but our fight for strong schools and strong families is far from over.”
Meanwhile, in Colorado, a federal appeals court delivered a major victory for LGBTQ rights and the state’s efforts to build an inclusive public education system. On September 30, 2025, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two Denver-area Catholic preschools could not exclude LGBTQ children or children of LGBTQ parents if they wished to participate in Colorado’s state-funded universal preschool program. The court’s decision upheld a lower court’s ruling and reinforced the state’s nondiscrimination policy, which prohibits preschools receiving public funds from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The court found no evidence that the Colorado Department of Early Childhood had acted with religious hostility, noting that the department “went to great effort to be welcoming and inclusive of faith-based preschools’ participation.” Of the more than 2,000 preschools in the program, about 40 are religious institutions. The Catholic preschools at the center of the case had sought exemptions from the nondiscrimination rules but were denied. Governor Jared Polis responded to the ruling by reaffirming Colorado’s commitment to inclusion, stating, “We are building a Colorado for all, where every student is free from discrimination and this voter-approved initiative continues to enroll approximately 70% of all eligible four-year-olds each school year.”
The decision aligns with similar rulings in Maine and Utah, where courts have held that religious schools accepting public funds cannot discriminate against LGBTQ students or families. Still, legal advocates for the Catholic preschools, such as Nick Reaves of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, vowed to continue the fight, arguing, “Colorado is punishing religious schools and the families they serve for following their faith. The Tenth Circuit’s decision allows the state’s anti-religious gamesmanship to continue.”
Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom saw its own heated debate over trans inclusion in sports. At the Labour Party conference on October 1, 2025, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy suggested that transgender athletes should be able to compete in some women’s sports—provided that inclusion, fairness, and safety could be balanced. This stance followed an April 2025 Supreme Court ruling that defined a woman as a “biological female” for legal purposes, prompting major sports organizations like the Football Association and England Netball to ban trans women from women’s competitions.
Nandy emphasized the government’s desire to be as inclusive as possible, stating, “The first (priority) is inclusion, the second is fairness, and the third is safety. And there are some sports where it’s perfectly possible to include everybody and still meet those principles around fairness and safety.” She added, “We’re keen to support [sports bodies] to take a sensible and proportionate approach to observe the law, but make sure that we don’t shut people out from opportunities to participate in sport.”
Her remarks sparked immediate backlash from women’s rights advocates. Fiona McAnena of Sex Matters argued, “The Secretary of State should be demanding that all sports comply with the law and keep everyone male out of their female categories. There is nothing complicated about this. Categories are how sports ensure there’s a place for everyone.” She insisted that safety and fairness must come before inclusion in sports where male development confers an advantage.
These developments in Oklahoma, Colorado, and the UK highlight the ongoing struggle to balance religious freedom, inclusion, and the rights of LGBTQ individuals in public life. As courts and governments grapple with these questions, the stakes remain high for families, educators, and communities on both sides of the debate.
For now, the outcomes in these three regions offer both hope and frustration, depending on one’s perspective. But one thing is certain: the conversation about LGBTQ rights, inclusion, and public policy is far from over.
