A federal judge in Texas on Friday temporarily blocked some public school districts from enforcing a state law that banned student clubs based on gender identity or expression, such as L.G.B.T.Q. clubs or gender and sexuality alliances.
The law, signed last year by Gov. Greg Abbott, also prohibits employees at K-12 public and charter schools from “assisting” students with socially transitioning between genders, including through name or pronoun changes. The law was the first in the nation to explicitly ban L.G.B.T.Q. student clubs, and it is among the most far-reaching efforts to ban discussions related to race, gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools.
The Friday ruling from Judge Charles Eskridge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas applies only to the three school districts that were named as defendants in the suit, the Houston, Katy and Plano districts.
Judge Eskridge noted in his 44-page opinion that all school districts “remain obligated to comply first and foremost with federal law, even when doing so requires disregarding contrary state directives.”
Under federal law, public secondary schools that allow any student-initiated clubs to meet on campus must allow all the same access, regardless of viewpoint. Since the new Texas law went into effect last September, some school districts had banned gender and sexuality alliances from meeting on campus. In liberal parts of the state, such as Austin, some Pride clubs have continued to meet on campus unofficially.
In the suit, filed by two nonprofit organizations, a labor union representing school employees, two high school students and a teacher, the plaintiffs argued that the law “censors huge swaths of constitutionally protected speech” and represents an “overzealous attempt” to ban diversity, equity and inclusion.
The judge did not directly address the constitutionality of the Texas law. Instead, he said he was blocking the law in certain districts because they had not offered any defense of their new policies.
The school districts, the Texas Education Agency and Governor Abbott did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. When the law went into effect, Mr. Abbott said it had strengthened parents’ rights by “prohibiting harmful gender ideology in K-12 schools” and “refocusing curriculum on core subjects and U.S. founding documents.”
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs had also named as a defendant the commissioner of the state education agency, Mike Morath. But the judge found that Mr. Morath had not taken any action to enforce the law and dismissed him as a defendant. The ruling on Friday therefore applied only to the three named districts, instead of statewide, the judge said.
Still, the plaintiffs applauded the ruling. In a phone interview on Friday, Brian Klosterboer, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, one of the legal groups representing the plaintiffs, called the decision a “major victory.” He said he was hopeful that students like Adrian Moore, a transgender teenager in Katy and one of the plaintiffs, would be called by their preferred name at school starting Monday.
“This will immediately provide significant relief to students like Adrian,” Mr. Klosterboer said, adding that the plaintiffs’ ultimate goal is to block the law statewide.
Cameron Samuels, the executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, one of the plaintiffs, also praised the ruling in a statement on Friday.
“Today’s ruling reminds us that queer and trans students’ resilience and joy are here to stay,” the statement said. “We won’t stop fighting until all Texas students are guaranteed safe and welcoming school environments.”
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
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