Texas House on Cheerleading

How soon we forget. In the early '70s, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders set a new standard for acres of skin and dance-floor moves when it hired professionals for its squad. Fast forward to today, where the Texas House of Representatives has passed (65-56) a bill prohibiting "overtly sexually suggestive" cheerleading (public schools). The bill neither defines the behavior it has banned nor provides punishment guidelines.

Bill sponsor Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston) has, in past sessions, "battledraunchy pop lyrics and advocated cutting off drug dealers' fingers," according to the Houston Chronicle. The bill does not have a Senate sponsor, which is its next step towards passage and gubernatorial endorsement.

According to the National Cheerleaders Association, competitive teams are penalized for sexual or suggestive moves, elaborating:

I think the solution is better education and training for the coaches, so that they highlight their teams' athleticism and not have to rely only on choreographed dance moves. I think that sometimes coaches get caught up in MTV and VH1 — that's entertainment and not cheerleading.

See Houston Chronicle, Seattle PI