A law once dubbed Indiana’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill was upheld by a federal appeals court on April 21.
The decision may mark the end of a years-long legal battle over the First Amendment’s role in the state’s classrooms. The law at the center of the case, established in 2023 by House Bill 1608, bans “instruction” on “human sexuality” for students in prekindergarten through third grade. That wasn’t a curriculum topic in those grades, teachers’ unions said at the time.
In June 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state’s education department on behalf of Kayla Smiley, a teacher who said that the law was too vague because it failed to define “instruction” or “human sexuality.” It was unclear if teachers could explain why “gay” is unkind when used as a pejorative, the lawsuit said, nor was it clear if she could keep children’s books about famous LGBT people in her classroom library. The ACLU also argued that the law would have a chilling effect on the teacher’s right to express her support for the LGBT community in her private life.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the teacher’s concerns about potential examples of enforcement weren’t substantial enough to invalidate the entire law, siding with an earlier decision from the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
“Not only does the term of ‘instruction’ have an ascertainable core of meaning, the handful of examples Ms. Smiley sees are more worrisome … arise only at the margins compared to the wide swath of situations clearly within the Indiana statute’s ambit,” the appellate opinion read in part.
If a teacher encounters legal trouble over what they believe to be an overly broad interpretation of the law, courts can and should resolve those cases on an individual basis, the justices wrote.
In a news release, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita applauded the ruling as “a strong victory for parental authority, childhood innocence and commonsense education priorities.”
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Indiana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Federal appeals court upholds Indiana’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law
Reporting by Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
