{"id":223061,"date":"2020-02-26T14:26:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T19:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?p=223061"},"modified":"2020-06-18T14:18:23","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T18:18:23","slug":"lgbtq-advocates-and-south-carolina-youth-file-lawsuit-challenging-states-anti-lgbtq-curriculum-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?p=223061","title":{"rendered":"LGBTQ Advocates and South Carolina Youth File Lawsuit Challenging State\u2019s Anti-LGBTQ Curriculum Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 26, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTACTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Polaski, Campaign for Southern Equality Communications Director<\/em>
610.306.7956 | adam@southernequality.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher Vasquez, NCLR Communications Director<\/em>
415.365.1337 | cvasquez@nclrights.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Warnke | Lambda Legal Media Relations Director<\/em>
213.841.4503 | twarnke@lambdalegal.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LGBTQ Advocates and South Carolina Youth File Lawsuit Challenging State\u2019s Anti-LGBTQ Curriculum Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

CHARLESTON, SC<\/strong> \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>Today the National Center for Lesbian Rights<\/a> and Lambda Legal<\/a>, along with private counsel Womble Bond Dickinson<\/a>, Brazil & Burke<\/a>, and law professor Clifford Rosky<\/a>, filed a federal lawsuit challenging a South Carolina statute that prohibits public school health education from including any discussion of same-sex relationships except in the context of sexually transmitted diseases. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of the student organization Gender and Sexuality Alliance, as well as the Campaign for Southern Equality<\/a> and South Carolina Equality Coalition<\/a>, including their members who are public school students in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to learn more and read the complaint.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit, Gender and Sexuality Alliance v. Spearman<\/em>, alleges that S.C. Code \u00a7 59-32-30(A)(5), a provision of the South Carolina\u2019s 1988 Comprehensive Health Education Act, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). The statute prohibits districts from including in their health education any \u201cdiscussion of alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships including, but not limited to, homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law singles out LGBTQ students for negative treatment and does not impose any comparable restriction on health education about heterosexual people. Any teacher who violates the provision is subject to dismissal. The South Carolina Attorney General has recently issued an opinion<\/a> that a court would likely find the law unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLGBTQ kids at our school \u2013 and every school in South Carolina \u2013 just want to feel safe, respected, and equal to other students in the classroom,\u201d said Eli Bundy<\/strong>, a tenth grader who is the president of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA)<\/strong>, an organization of high school students at a public magnet school in the Charleston County School District. \u201cThis discriminatory law treats LGBTQ students like we are outsiders in our own community, and that we aren\u2019t equal to our peers. School should be a safe place for all students to be treated fairly and equally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Carolina\u2019s Anti-LGBTQ Curriculum Law was enacted in 1988 as a provision of the Comprehensive Health Education Act,\u201d said Jeff Ayers<\/strong>, Executive Director of South Carolina Equality<\/strong>. \u201cIt had the express and singular purpose of voicing moral disapproval of non-heterosexual people, and it serves no state purpose at all. This statute attempts to, at best ignore, and at worst to completely stigmatize young people who identify as LGBTQ in South Carolina and it must be struck down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe state law sends a message to students that \u2018homosexual relationships\u2019 are so shameful or dangerous that they can only be discussed in a negative context,\u201d said Julie Wilensky<\/strong>, Senior Staff Attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights<\/strong>. \u201cThis contributes to a hostile school climate in a state where nearly 90% of LGBTQ middle and high school students regularly hear homophobic remarks from other students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis discriminatory law is archaic, outrageous, and profoundly damaging to LGBTQ students, treating them as pariahs,\u201d added Peter Renn<\/strong>, Counsel for Lambda Legal<\/strong>. \u201cIt should come as no surprise that where the government stigmatizes a group of students as \u2018unmentionable,\u2019 it risks breeding a school environment hostile to LGBTQ students, with more harassment and abuse in classrooms, hallways, and locker rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery young person in South Carolina \u2013 including those who are LGBTQ \u2013 deserves an equal opportunity to learn and to thrive. But the current anti-LGBTQ curriculum law both stigmatizes LGBTQ youth and denies them access to critical information about their health,\u201d said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara<\/strong>, Executive Director at the Campaign for Southern Equality<\/strong>. \u201cThe law sends a chilling signal to LGBTQ youth, and it\u2019s long past time to strike it down.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In South Carolina, people across the political and ideological spectrum understand that no one should be excluded because of their LGBTQ identity,\u201d said Kevin Hall<\/strong>, office managing partner at Womble Bond Dickinson<\/strong> based in Columbia, SC. \u201cThat’s why Republicans and Democrats alike are working in this case to overturn this clearly unconstitutional statute \u2013 and we’re honored to represent the effort by supporting these courageous students and the many young people in South Carolina who are being harmed by it each year.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were especially delighted to see that the state’s leading attorney, the South Carolina Attorney General, agrees that the anti-LGBTQ Curriculum Law is unconstitutional,\u201d said Clifford Rosky<\/strong>, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Utah<\/strong>, referring to a recent opinion issued by the Attorney General’s Office<\/a>. \u201cFor now, this discriminatory law unfortunately remains in effect, and it inflicts ongoing harm against LGBTQ students in South Carolina’s public schools. To protect these students, we’ll need a judge to prevent the law\u2019s enforcement, or state lawmakers to repeal it \u2013 as lawmakers have recently done in Utah and Arizona.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit is the latest constitutional challenge to anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws, which still remain in a handful of states. In 2019, a lawsuit in Arizona brought by NCLR, Lambda Legal, Professor Rosky, and private counsel led to the state legislature repealing the challenged law. In 2017, the Utah legislature repealed similar state laws following a 2016 lawsuit brought by NCLR and private counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students in states with discriminatory curriculum laws report more hostile school climates. 2017 data from GLSEN\u2019s National School Climate Survey<\/a> surveying LGBTQ middle and high school students demonstrates that South Carolina schools are not safe for most LGBTQ students; nearly 90% said they regularly heard homophobic remarks, 76% experienced verbal harassment, 34% experienced physical harassment, and 14% were physically assaulted due to their sexual orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to read more about the case,<\/strong><\/a> Gender and Sexuality Alliance v. Spearman.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/em>Campaign for Southern Equality <\/em><\/strong>works for full LGBTQ equality \u2013 both legal and lived \u2013 across the South. Our work is rooted in commitments to empathy and equity.<\/em> <\/em><\/a>http:\/\/www.southernequality.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)<\/em><\/strong> is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community\u2019s most vulnerable.<\/em> <\/em>http:\/\/www.nclrights.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lambda Legal<\/em><\/strong> is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and policy work. More information at:<\/em> <\/em><\/a>www.lambdalegal.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Carolina Equality <\/em><\/strong>is a non-profit organization with the mission to secure equal civil and human rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender South Carolinians and their families, and has a vision of a South Carolina where everyone is equal. <\/em>www.scequality.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2020 CONTACTS: Adam Polaski, Campaign for Southern Equality Communications Director610.306.7956 | adam@southernequality.org Christopher Vasquez, NCLR Communications Director415.365.1337 | cvasquez@nclrights.org Tom Warnke | Lambda Legal Media Relations Director213.841.4503 | twarnke@lambdalegal.org LGBTQ Advocates and South Carolina Youth File Lawsuit Challenging State\u2019s Anti-LGBTQ Curriculum Law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-223061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-latest-news","8":"without-featured-image"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"carolina","author_link":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=223061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=223061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=223061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=223061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}