Laws in Utah protect schoolchildren from discussing sexual topics in classrooms — allowing them instead to focus on subject matter like reading, math and history. Sounds wise and reasonable to most people.
However, in the traditionally conservative state of Utah, two LGBT advocacy groups have now asked a federal judge to block the enforcement of a law that forbids discussion of anything that could be construed as “advocacy” of homosexuality in schools.
These well-funded advocacy groups still don’t get it. These laws protect children from discussing sexual topics in schools — allowing them to concentrate instead on reading, math and history.
In a court filing Thursday, Equality Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights asked U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson to grant their injunction request, as Salt Lake City’s Fox 13 reported. The groups even came up with a pithy nickname: the “No Promo of Homo” law.
“The negative impact of that discriminatory treatment is profound, communicating to gay students and others that there is something so undesirable, shameful, or controversial about ‘homosexuality’ that [it should] be affirmatively and expressly barred,” Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, an attorney for the gay rights groups, wrote in the court filing.
“The prohibition tells gay students that their sexual orientation is less valid than that of heterosexual students, and, thus, that they themselves are less valued.”
These well-funded advocacy groups still don’t get it. Call Utah old-fashioned, but the state is trying to retain effective traditional education in a country facing a morass of gender identity issues at every turn.
Related: ‘Highlights’ Takes Heat for Its LGBT Decision
The Utah attorney general’s office responded by saying the statutes in the law are not explicitly anti-gay, and has asked that the lawsuit to be dismissed.
[lz_ndn video=31547352 ]
Equality Utah, NCLR and three students are suing the Utah State School Board, as well as the Cache, Weber and Jordan School Districts, said Fox 13. The parties say existing statutes violate LGBT students’ First Amendment rights, citing students who have allegedly experienced bullying due to the school policies. The lawsuit also challenges a law put in place in the mid 1990s that bans gay-straight alliance clubs at school.
Utah State Board of Education spokesman Mark Peterson said the board had no comment on the request for the injunction because it had not seen the filing. He referred questions to the state attorney general’s office, where spokesman Dan Burton said a response will be filed next month, said Fox 13.
As usual, the focus is on gender identity, to the exclusion of what is fair for most students.
Several states have similar laws. The Utah laws also include provisions that prohibit discussion of contraceptives and sex outside marriage, passed in 2001 in a wide-ranging sexual education bill that faced little opposition at the time.
Three of the plaintiffs in the case are Utah students, reported Fox News, including a kindergarten boy who the suit states was targeted in a school bathroom and beaten by other students for wearing dresses.
In the latest court filing, the groups contend the laws send the wrong message. “The prohibition tells gay students that their sexual orientation is less valid than that of heterosexual students, and, thus, that they themselves are less valued,” lawyers wrote.
As usual, the focus is completely on gender identity — to the exclusion of what is fair for the majority of students. Utah parents can only hope that the court stays strong and keeps all children’s needs foremost in their decision on this suit.
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.