Amy Hightower
- Max Hightower was thrilled when he was cast in "Oklahoma" in his senior theater production.
- His thrill changed to confusion and hurt when he was suddenly dropped from the role for being trans.
- Hightower's family and supporters went head to head with the school board over the decision.
Max Hightower is a typical high school boy in most ways.
His main passion is theater — a space where he has been involved in productions and camps, and where his friends act alongside him.
He's also transgender in Sherman, a solidly Republican county and city in Texas.
Despite this, his family was still shocked and upset to learn on Friday, November 3, that Max was being removed from Sherman High School's production of "Oklahoma" because of his gender identity, after no previous issues in the theater program.
Amy Hightower
Max's father, Philip Hightower, got a call from Principal Scott Johnston with the news.
"He said, 'the school has adopted a new policy going forward that only males can play male roles and only females can play female roles,'" Amy Hightower, Max's mother, told Business Insider. "'With that being said, Max has been cut from the role because Max's role is a male role, and Max was not born as male.'"
The district superintendent, Tyson Bennett, was widely blamed for the decision by public commenters at two school board meetings, per recordings. Representatives for the Sherman School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Amy said the news completely caught the family off guard.
When Max was pulled out of class later with the decision, he asked for an explanation of the rule and couldn't get an answer from school officials.
He wasn't the only one upset. When he left his meeting, he found other students devastated by the news.
Most students impacted were also trans, but Max noted two cisgender girls who were cast as men also lost their roles because of the rule.
"Outside of the choir room was a literal sea of crying children," Max said. "The principal walked out and looked at all of us whose souls he just crushed, and said, 'school is out of session. I need y'all to make your way outside.'"
Amy Hightower
His family couldn't let the decision go without a challenge.
Amy, previously private about Max's identity for his safety, took to Facebook to tell others about what was happening to her son.
"It just started gaining traction and just kind of blew up from there," she said. "I was so scared to post it because I knew the hate was coming. But I'll tell you what, so much more love and support came in than hate. We were so blown away."
After their story took over news cycles nationwide, the high school released a statement on November 10 announcing that "Oklahoma" would not go on as scheduled — instead, its script would be changed to a "child-friendly" version of the production.
Though their statement said students' "sex will not be considered when casting the new production," the Hightowers immediately noticed that in that version of the script, Max's character was "pretty much eliminated," according to Amy.
The Hightowers decided to continue their plan of attending the school board meeting the following Monday.
According to Amy, 65 people spoke at the meeting — and all but three of them were in favor of reinstating Max and changing the sex-based role requirements. At the end of the session, the board president apologized to the community and said they planned to reinstate the production as originally cast and scripted.
Another special board meeting was held on November 17, where speakers seemed to be about 50-50 for and against Bennett's action, per Amy's observation.
By the end of the meeting, though, the arts department had prevailed, and the announcements made earlier in the week were confirmed in a statement from the board.
"It was decided that the superintendent would no longer have any control over the fine arts department, and they were going to open up a third-party investigation for his actions," Amy said. "We were hoping that he would be placed on administrative leave completely. So, not exactly what we were looking for, but not a loss either."
Max's next steps? Just being an average, theater-obsessed high schooler.
"I guess I really got to kill 'Oklahoma' now, for the people watching me," Max said.