South Carolinians Sue Over Ban on LGBTQ Mentions in Sex Education

South Carolina LGBTQ groups have sued to repeal a state law that bans mention of nonheterosexual relationships in public schools' sex education classes unless the topic is sexually transmitted infections.

"I think that no student should have to be told by their health teacher that they can't talk about their identity," Eli Bundy, a queer student who is president of Charleston County School of the Arts' Gender and Sexuality Alliance, told NPR. "I think that just ... it really hurts a lot of teenagers. And I think it's definitely something that needs to change."

The GSA, the Campaign for Southern Equality, and the South Carolina Equality Coalition are plaintiffs in the lawsuit and are represented by Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

The law it addresses, the Comprehensive Health Education Act, was passed in 1988. States with similar laws include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas, NPR reports. Most of the laws, seeking to ban "promotion of homosexuality," were enacted in the late 1980s and early '90s, at the height of the AIDS crisis.

"This lawsuit would seek to remove the gag rule," Lambda Legal lawyer Peter Renn told NPR. "Removing the law would enable local school districts to include LGBTQ students in the curriculum, but it wouldn't create any sort of affirmative obligation."

Bundy said the ban keeps students from getting good information. At one point, they brought up the topic of pre-exposure prophylaxis, the daily dosage of a drug to prevent the user from contracting HIV, and the teacher didn't know anything about the topic.

"There are lots of people that get their education from the Internet or from their friends, which can sometimes be unreliable sources," resulting in an "inequality of information," Bundy told NPR.

The lawsuit states that the ban also communicates "that there is something so shameful, immoral, or dangerous about 'homosexual relationships'" that they are not fit for discussion, the Associated Press reports.

That creates a hostile climate for LGBTQ students, the suit says. It notes one student's experience of harassment, when a schoolmate threw a Clorox wipe at him, "told him that he was diseased and that the stairway to hell was 'rainbow-colored,'" and kicked him in the chest.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has said he believes the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause, South Carolina TV station WCSC reports. State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said she agrees but that she is bound to enforce state laws.

"I agree with the arguments and evidence presented in the opinion," Spearman said in a prepared statement. "I also believe that parents should continue to have the final say in whether or not their child participates in health education curriculum. The ultimate decision now rests in the hands of the Court. I trust they will be swift and their decision will uphold the dignity of all students."