Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma
Oklahoma has become a focal point in the national escalation of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and anti-DEI efforts, emerging as one of the most aggressive states in proposing and advancing bills that undermine queer and trans rights across sectors, including public education, healthcare, free speech, and civil li...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/851 |
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| author | Quan Phan Jenny Sperling |
| author_facet | Quan Phan Jenny Sperling |
| author_sort | Quan Phan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oklahoma has become a focal point in the national escalation of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and anti-DEI efforts, emerging as one of the most aggressive states in proposing and advancing bills that undermine queer and trans rights across sectors, including public education, healthcare, free speech, and civil liberties. Although many bills do not pass into law, the volume, language, and momentum constitute a discursive and political terrain that actively regulates 2SLGBTQIA+ lives. This study retools the concept of strategic planning—typically associated with institutions’ mission-setting—as an analytical heuristic to examine how legislative efforts operate as a coordinated political agenda. Drawing on critical policy analysis (CPA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), the authors map selected legislative texts from 2021 to 2024 to demonstrate how Oklahoma lawmakers are using policy discourse to reshape higher education into an extension of state power, advancing white cisheteronormative logics. By framing these efforts as ideologically coherent rather than isolated, this analysis contributes to the urgent work of identifying and resisting the restructuring of public education against 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9fb3e98b3ec54de58aebc0ebb750231f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-9fb3e98b3ec54de58aebc0ebb750231f2025-08-20T03:36:14ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-07-0115785110.3390/educsci15070851Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in OklahomaQuan Phan0Jenny Sperling1Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USADepartment of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USAOklahoma has become a focal point in the national escalation of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and anti-DEI efforts, emerging as one of the most aggressive states in proposing and advancing bills that undermine queer and trans rights across sectors, including public education, healthcare, free speech, and civil liberties. Although many bills do not pass into law, the volume, language, and momentum constitute a discursive and political terrain that actively regulates 2SLGBTQIA+ lives. This study retools the concept of strategic planning—typically associated with institutions’ mission-setting—as an analytical heuristic to examine how legislative efforts operate as a coordinated political agenda. Drawing on critical policy analysis (CPA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), the authors map selected legislative texts from 2021 to 2024 to demonstrate how Oklahoma lawmakers are using policy discourse to reshape higher education into an extension of state power, advancing white cisheteronormative logics. By framing these efforts as ideologically coherent rather than isolated, this analysis contributes to the urgent work of identifying and resisting the restructuring of public education against 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/851anti-2SLGBTQIA + legislationanti-DEI legislationOklahoma higher educationcritical policy and discourse analysisstrategic planning |
| spellingShingle | Quan Phan Jenny Sperling Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma Education Sciences anti-2SLGBTQIA + legislation anti-DEI legislation Oklahoma higher education critical policy and discourse analysis strategic planning |
| title | Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma |
| title_full | Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma |
| title_fullStr | Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma |
| title_full_unstemmed | Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma |
| title_short | Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma |
| title_sort | legislating a strategic plan anti 2slgbtqia discourse and the political agenda reshaping higher education in oklahoma |
| topic | anti-2SLGBTQIA + legislation anti-DEI legislation Oklahoma higher education critical policy and discourse analysis strategic planning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/851 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT quanphan legislatingastrategicplananti2slgbtqiadiscourseandthepoliticalagendareshapinghighereducationinoklahoma AT jennysperling legislatingastrategicplananti2slgbtqiadiscourseandthepoliticalagendareshapinghighereducationinoklahoma |