Female Texas high schooler cast as male lead in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ files Title IX suit after show canceled

The Grand Prairie Independent School District (GPISD) in Texas was hit with a Title IX lawsuit this week after it canceled its production of “Little Shop of Horrors” when a female student was cast to play the male lead.

Student Ana Mota, who was cast as Seymour, sued her school for the cancellation, arguing it amounted to illegal gender discrimination.

The district said it canceled the show because gender swapping the role would violate a Texas law passed last year that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and instruction around gender identity or sexual orientation in schools.

But the broad law does not specifically ban gender swapping in musical productions, the lawsuit argues.

“So it is a little bit of a gray area. There’s some very specific items in SB 12 that aren’t really that hard to figure out. There are others that are pretty vague,” attorney David Coale, who is representing Mota, told NBC 5 .

The school district declined The Hill’s request for comment.

The district originally offered Mota another part in the play, but when she refused, the school canceled the production altogether.

“GPISD intentionally excluded Ana from the role of Seymour and denied her the benefits of participation in the GPISD educational theater program because she is female. The administrators who removed Ana from the role stated explicitly that the basis for removal was that Ana is a female student portraying a male character,” the lawsuit reads.

The incident marks the latest fight over the changes schools and universities in Texas have made to try to stay out of the law’s crosshairs.