In case you thought LGBTQ issues were “over,” here’s an unfortunate wake-up call. In Arizona, state law explicitly prohibits sex education from covering LGBTQ inclusive information. The law, which was enacted in 1991 and covers both public and charter schools, bans sex education that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle,” “portrays homosexuality as a positive alternative lifestyle,” or suggests that some methods of sex are “safe methods of homosexual sex.”
So, along with limiting inclusive education (that of which could prevent illness and disease, increase consent discussions, and literally save lives), the law outright shames LGBTQ people.
Lovely!
Luckily, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have teamed up to file a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit is on behalf of two students (a 12-year-old queer non-binary student who attends school in Tuscon and a 15-year-old gay student, identified as A.A. in the suit, who goes to school in the Phoenix area) and Equality Arizona. Names of both students have been withheld for obvious reasons.
As an example, the complaint reads, “A.A. is afraid to ask questions relevant to LGBTQ people for fear that his questions will lead to further harassment and bullying from his peers.”
Basically, the argument is that the students’ rights are being violated, as the law separates LGBTQ people as a ‘class.’ Because of this separation, LGBTQ students (in addition to those who are questioning) can’t access sexual health information that their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts are receiving.
Frankly, this is a disservice to even students who are not LGBTQ or questioning, because factual, health-based information lasts a lifetime, and can be spread positively to others.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman (a Democrat) is one of the defendants in the lawsuit. She’s previously called for this very anti-LGBTQ law to be repealed. In February, for example, she puts it simply, saying, “This policy is not just outdated, it has always been harmful and wrong.”
More recently, she tweeted her support of the repeal:
NCLR Senior Staff Attorney Julie Wilensky states:
“In 2019, it is shocking to see Arizona enforcing a law that openly disparages a group of students and requires them to be treated differently from all other students.
It is time for this harmful law to be eliminated from Arizona’s schools so all children can feel safe and valued.”
“Arizona is stigmatizing and demeaning LGBTQ students and preventing them from getting medically-accurate information that literally could save their lives,” Puneet Cheema of Lambda Legal, added.
This isn’t the first time this particular law has been an issue. Earlier this very year, Senator Martin Quezada, a Democrat from Glendale, introduced a bill to repeal the law. Surprising no one, Republican legislators killed the bill.
Oh, and by the way. Arizona is one of seven states that have laws against “promoting” homosexuality in schools. These states include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. Even outside of these particular bans, LGBTQ students are still more likely to be bullied by their peers, more likely to live with depression or anxiety, and more likely to experience sexual harassment.
We have a ways to go, folks.