A transgender teenager turns to their English teacher for comfort in Grapevine, Texas. The mother of the teenager goes to a school board meeting and accuses the teacher of persuading the teen to change genders. That is the premise of the new podcast Grapevine, the third episode of which was released today, hosted by NBC News’s Antonia Hylton and Mike Hixenbaugh.
In Grapevine, Hylton and Hixenbaugh look at one teenager, one family, and one school district in Texas to help explain the anti-LGBTQ+ movement that is gaining momentum nationwide, with 2023 making history for being the year the highest ever number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills and laws have been introduced.
Teen Vogue catches up with Hylton to ask what drew her to this story, what she hopes listeners will learn, and what is bringing her hope in a country where the anti-LGBTQ+ movement seems more popular than ever.
The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Teen Vogue: What made you want to explore this story through reporting and creating the podcast?
Antonia Hylton: [My cohost] Mike [Hixenbaugh] heard this story one night at a school board meeting, of a mom who came forward and said that she had lost her son and alleged that an English teacher had convinced her child to change genders. Immediately Mike perked up, because it sounded like the exact nightmare that Governor Ron DeSantis, that Texas Republicans, Republicans all over the country, and talking heads on TV had claimed was happening all over the place.
We think that as we are heading into 2024, this is a story that needs to be told and people need to understand, because it's not just one Texas town. We're seeing it everywhere.
TV: Why do you think it's important to know these specific stories about actual people as opposed to the broad strokes of the culture war?
AH: Because I think it's the only way to break through. I also think politicians and parents… they have dominated the conversation. The reality is, this is a story about children, about minors, most of them under the age of 18. Just with these first two episodes being out, Mike and I are already starting to hear from people. We've received emails from kids, from families, from administrators and teachers and communities all across the US saying that what they're hearing reflects what they're seeing in their town.
TV: Was there anything in this story that surprised you?
AH: I think one thing I hadn't appreciated at the outset was how long the history is here in this part of North Texas, going back decades. This is a part of Texas where there has long been a presence of some popular televangelists, these Christian leaders who have long wanted to dismantle the wall between the church and state. Many of them, they've consistently for years now — well before the conversations about critical race theory or transgender students came — they've talked about wanting to bring prayer back in school, about certain Supreme Court decisions, whether it was to remove prayer and religious practices from school or it was the original sin in America as the beginning of our country's moral decline. So there's this long history of movement and activity coming out of this one particular part of Texas.
TV: Was there anything you found in reporting this story that made you feel optimistic? This may be a difficult question, because I know it’s hard to report on the extreme rash of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and legislation, but was there anything hopeful?
AH: The kids we met [made me hopeful]. They are optimistic while they're worried and they're fighting, and they don't take anything for granted. They are ready to register. They are ready to vote. They are awake.
On the one hand, there's a sense of grief in that, right? Of a loss of childhood, a loss of innocence, of not having been able to just be a kid for a little while longer. But many of them feel like they are incredibly prepared for the wider world. They're ready to go to college.
They think so critically about everything from politics and religion and faith to climate change and women's reproductive rights. They're so engaged. So they say, “We're coming. We're going to change the world.”
