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Equality Utah has asked the federal court to block the enforcement of state curriculum laws and policies that bar classrooms and student clubs from positive discussions of homosexuality in public schools.
Utah's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group sued the state school board and the Cache County, Jordan and Weber school districts over the so-called "no-promo homo" laws in October.
A petition seeking an immediate injunction against enforcing the statutes and Utah Board of Education administrative policies was filed late Wednesday in Salt Lake City's District Court, by the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
Filed on behalf of three Utah students — all minors — and their parents, the lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to strike down Utah's curriculum laws as unconstitutional on the grounds that they violate First Amendment rights to free speech and 14th Amendment rights to equal protection, along with those that ensure equal access and prohibit sex discrimination.
"Most people in Utah and other states recognize that discrimination against gay people has no place in our society," said Shannon Minter, NCLR's legal director, said in a prepared statement. "The U.S. Supreme Court also held that a person's sexual orientation cannot be the basis for treating people differently. The laws are divisive and harmful, especially to students, and we look forward to the day when all students can participate equally and safely in Utah's schools."
At least seven other states have similar laws, which advocates say single out homosexuality as wrong and leave LGBT people at risk of isolation, harassment and discrimination.
Utah's lawsuit is the first of its kind and has the potential to set a national precedent, NCLR attorneys have said.
In a November response to the lawsuit, the Utah Attorney General's Office said that state curriculum laws and the Utah Board of Education policies are constitutional and not discriminatory because they do not "contain the phrase anti-gay laws."
Court papers also claim the state, the education board and the three districts are protected by immunity laws and can't be sued.
On Thursday, Sydnee Dickson, the state superintendent of public schools, said she had not had a chance to review the motion or talk with legal counsel.
"We will do so and then await some direction from the A.G.'s office," she said. "We literally haven't discussed it since the suit was filed and we've had no word on the motion except from the press."
In addition to Equality Utah, the lawsuit's plaintiffs include a 7-year-old Weber County boy who is gender nonconforming; a gay, male high school student from Cache County barred from talking about his uncle's same-sex marriage at school; and a lesbian enrolled in a Salt Lake County high school, who has been discouraged from asking questions about homosexuality in health class.
The court has issued a protective order preserving the anonymity of the three youths because of their ages.
"Our state's anti-gay school laws contribute to a chilling culture of silence that stigmatizes LGBTQ students and treats them different than other students," Troy Williams, of Equality Utah, said in a statement. "We are bringing this lawsuit because we want LGBTQ youth to know that they are seen, they are valued and that they belong in our schools and state just as much as other students do."
@jenniferdobner
Reporter Benjamin Wood contributed to this report.