A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday to block three Texas school districts, including Katy and Houston, from enforcing a new state law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public schools.
The law, Senate Bill 12, has banned gender and sexuality alliance clubs at high schools across the state, among other provisions. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Transgender Law Center and the Baker McKenzie law firm sued Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and Houston, Katy and Plano ISDs to block the law from being enforced.
The organizations filed the suit on behalf of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Network and two anonymous individuals. They say the new law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Equal Access Act. In December, attorneys asked for an injunction to prevent further harm to students.
The school districts involved in the lawsuit are now temporarily blocked from enforcing four sections of SB12, which restricts school-sponsored DEI efforts; prohibits staff from referring to students with names or pronouns that they are not assigned at birth; bars instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity; and bans student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The judge in his ruling said the three districts have declined “to take a position as to SB 12 on the merits, even after implementing policies or otherwise taking action to accord with its overall directive.” He ordered the districts to declare within two week if they plan to defend SB12.
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“This win is bigger than me, it’s a win for all trans students, and students from all backgrounds in my district,” said Adrian Moore, a student at Katy ISD and a plaintiff in the case, in an ACLU news release. “Schools should be places where all students feel safe and supported. I hope this lawsuit sends the message that when the LGBTQIA+ community and our allies work in solidarity, we can make a difference.”
Moore had said at a December press conference that his Katy ISD high school had a diversity club, but that it was shut down this school year due to the ban. The student has also not been called his chosen name by his teachers, who now are required to use his deadname, which is defined as the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses.
The state ban follows implementation of similar policies by individual districts. Katy ISD made headlines in recent years when it became the first Houston-area district to enact a strict gender policy that forced staff to “out” transgender students to their parents in certain circumstances. Other large school districts in the area, like Conroe, Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend ISDs, have followed suit with their own local policies that mirror SB12.
See here and here for the background. I don’t believe this will have any effect beyond the three districts at this time, as the ruling just barred the state from enforcing the law until there is a final resolution. If the judge ultimately rules these aspects of the law are unconstitutional, then as with the Ten Commandments lawsuits, an argument can be made that the ruling should apply to the rest of the state. But as we also saw with those lawsuits, the state disagreed with that interpretation, and so more lawsuits including ultimately a class action lawsuit covering all districts were filed. I suspect that is more or less how it will play out here, if the plaintiffs succeed. Which I very much hope they will. A copy of the lawsuit is here, a copy of the injunction is here, and a copy of the judge’s opinion is here.