December 25, 2022 - OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta last Friday joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in an amicus brief in Equality Florida v. Florida State Board of Education blasting Florida’s extreme “Don’t Say Gay” law. Florida’s law seeks to erase LGBTQ+ communities from classrooms in Florida by censoring or outright prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. In the friend-of-the-court brief, which builds on an earlier, similar amicus brief in the case, the coalition urges the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida to allow the plaintiffs’ amended complaint challenging the law to move forward and highlights the states’ efforts to combat discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans nationwide.

“Our children deserve to grow up in a world where they are accepted for who they are,” said Attorney General Bonta. “But, through Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, DeSantis has instead chosen to stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ+ people from schools through censorship and threats of litigation. It’s a blatant attempt to harass and intimidate LGBTQ+ students, teachers, and families. In California, we’re pushing back, we won’t back down, and we stand with our LGBTQ+ community.” 

Signed into law on March 28, 2022, Florida’s House Bill 1557 (HB 1557) — the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law — flatly bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, and prohibits such instruction for all other students unless it is in accordance with state standards. In response to its passage, a Florida coalition including parents and students filed a lawsuit challenging the law just days after it was enacted. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint aimed at further identifying HB 1557’s concrete harms after the court initially ruled to dismiss the case on standing. In the subsequent amicus brief in support of the amended complaint, the attorneys general again make it clear that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law is an extreme outlier. Rather than leaving the majority of educational decisions to schools and teachers, HB 1557 allows parents to haul schools into court over even minor instructional choices and imposes legal liability on school districts that do not censor LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom. In contrast to numerous other states’ efforts to foster inclusivity, HB 1557’s primary impact is to stigmatize and harm LGBTQ+ youth in Florida and across the country, resulting in adverse mental health and learning outcomes that will likely extend well beyond Florida’s borders.

In the amicus brief, the coalition asserts:

• Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law stigmatizes youth in Florida and those harms extend to youth in other states;
• Educational decisions that stigmatize LGBTQ+ youth directly harm mental health and educational outcomes;
• If allowed to remain in effect, HB 1557 will increase anti-LGBTQ+ bias;
• Florida stands apart from other states by subjecting school communities to costly litigation for legitimate instructional decisions;
• The experience of other states undermines Florida’s contention that its extreme legislation has a legitimate pedagogical purpose; and
• The court should reject Florida’s efforts to dismiss the current challenge to HB 1557.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.

A copy of the amicus brief is available here.
Source: CA. DOJ