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South Carolina faces lawsuit over LGBTQ+ sex education ban
Source: Associated Press
South Carolina faces lawsuit over LGBTQ+ sex education ban
Associated Press
Thu 27 Feb 2020 13.28 GMT
It is against state law in South Carolina for public school sex education classes to mention anything other than heterosexual relationships, unless the talk involves sexually transmitted diseases. A federal lawsuit now aims to change that.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal said their lawsuit filed on Wednesday seeks to overturn the Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1988 as an unconstitutional violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
“The law singles out LGBTQ students for negative treatment,” a news release introducing the lawsuit said. “It prevents LGBTQ students from receiving any health education about their relationships except in the context of sexually transmitted diseases, without imposing any comparable restriction on health education about heterosexual people.”
The law also says that any teacher who allows “a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles” including “homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases” can be fired.
The state superintendent of education, Molly Spearman, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, agrees that the law is on shaky ground.
-snip-
Associated Press
Thu 27 Feb 2020 13.28 GMT
It is against state law in South Carolina for public school sex education classes to mention anything other than heterosexual relationships, unless the talk involves sexually transmitted diseases. A federal lawsuit now aims to change that.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal said their lawsuit filed on Wednesday seeks to overturn the Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1988 as an unconstitutional violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
“The law singles out LGBTQ students for negative treatment,” a news release introducing the lawsuit said. “It prevents LGBTQ students from receiving any health education about their relationships except in the context of sexually transmitted diseases, without imposing any comparable restriction on health education about heterosexual people.”
The law also says that any teacher who allows “a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles” including “homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases” can be fired.
The state superintendent of education, Molly Spearman, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, agrees that the law is on shaky ground.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/27/south-carolina-lgbtq-sex-education-lawsuit