ACLU, Education Groups Sue Over State Law Restricting Teachings On Race, Gender In Classroom

The ACLU and education groups filed a lawsuit over a law that restricts aspects of teaching on race and gender curriculum across Oklahoma education.

Plaintiffs call HB 1775 an “unprecedented and unconstitutional censorship of discussions about race and gender” that uses “sweeping and unclear” language.

Governor Kevin Stitt is a defendant in the lawsuit. When he signed the law in May, he said “I will not stand for publicly-funded K-12 schools training impressionable minds to define themselves by their sex or their race.”

Related Story: Gov. Stitt Signs Bill Limiting Race Curriculum From Kindergarten To College Into Law

Attorney General John O’Connor, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, and other education officials are also defendants in the lawsuit.

Related Story: House Bill 1775 Takes Effect

In a release, ACLU said "the lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Oklahoma, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and pro bono counsel Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP on behalf of plaintiffs the Black Emergency Response Team (BERT); the University of Oklahoma Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (OU-AAUP); the Oklahoma State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP-OK); the American Indian Movement (AIM) Indian Territory on behalf of itself and its members who are public school students and teachers, a high school student, and Oklahoma public high school teachers Anthony Crawford and Regan Killackey."