National Briefs

Judge tosses challenge to Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge has again dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Florida law critics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay'' that restricts teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee ruled last month that a revised lawsuit filed by students, parents and teachers failed to show they had legal standing to challenge the law. The lawsuit had argued the new Florida law is unconstitutional.

According to the ruling, the plaintiffs needed to show they suffered harm that could be traced to the new law and could be remedied by a favorable decision from the court. The judge said most of the plaintiffs' claims of harm come from the existence of the new law, rather than its enforcement.

Winsor dismissed an earlier version of the case in September on similar grounds, and a similar lawsuit filed in Orlando was also dismissed in October.

A report released in August by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy groups, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate said that hateful references to gays, lesbians and other LGBTQ people surged online after Florida's Republican-dominated legislature passed the bill last spring. The law was championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.

California will try to enshrine right to same-sex marriage

By Sophie Austin, Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California, a U.S. trendsetter for progressive policies and a state where the current governor once made news issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco before it was legal, will attempt to enshrine marriage equality in the state constitution.

The effort comes 15 years after a voter-approved initiative, Proposition 8, banned the state from recognizing same-sex marriages. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California. The constitutional amendment is still on the books, however, and that worries advocates who think the high court may revisit the 2015 case that legalized gay marriage nationwide.

"It's absolute poison, it is so destructive and it's humiliating that this is in our constitution,'' said Scott Wiener, a state senator who represents San Francisco.

Wiener and Assembly Member Evan Low of Silicon Valley, both Democrats and members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, introduced legislation Tuesday to rescind Proposition 8. The measure would need to be approved in the Legislature by a two-thirds vote, and then it will ultimately fall to voters to decide via a referendum.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his support for the repeal.

"It's time that our laws affirm marriage equality regardless of who you are or who you love," the Democrat said. "California stands with the LGBTQ+ community and their right to live freely.''

In the days leading up to Proposition 8's approval, Low joined opponents of the measure outside his alma mater De Anza College in Cupertino, California, to call on voters to reject the initiative. When it passed, it felt personal to Low, who is gay.

"Why do fellow Californians hate me?'' he said. "Why do they feel that my rights should be eliminated?''

California could follow in the footsteps of Nevada, which in 2020 became the first state to amend its constitution to ensure the right to same-sex marriage. The matter took on fresh urgency last year when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion established by Roe v. Wade. At the time, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called into question other prominent cases and urged the court to reconsider them. His list included Obergefell v. Hodges, which forced states to issue and recognize same-sex marriages.

"In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell," Thomas wrote, referencing two other landmark cases involving access to birth control and a decision striking down laws against same-sex sexual activity.

In December, President Joe Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires states to recognize same-sex marriages, but the legislation doesn't force states to allow them if Obergefell is overturned.

Wiener and Low, the two California lawmakers, hope to replicate the process under which state voters in November approved a constitutional change guaranteeing the right to abortion.

Jeremy Yancey and Fabio de Andrade, who got married Tuesday at a Valentine's Day celebration at San Francisco City Hall, said Proposition 8's repeal is overdue.

"It's about time. Protecting our rights as human beings is very vital,'' Yancey said. "It should've happened many years ago.''

Assembly Member Greg Wallis, a Republican representing part of San Bernadino County, said in a statement that he was proud to co-author the legislation.

"The reality is that marriage is a contract and commitment between any two people in love, and it's high time we make that clear,'' Wallis said.

The path to marriage equality in the Golden State was uneven. In 2000, voters approved a statute that banned the recognition of same-sex marriages, a measure that was overturned by the courts. Newsom, who became San Francisco's mayor in 2004, issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the city in a move that defied the law and ran counter to views then held by many in his party. In 2005, the California Legislature was ahead of all other states when it passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. But then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed it.

Support for marriage equality has rapidly expanded since the Obergefell ruling. While Mormon groups helped fund the Proposition 8 campaign in California, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out in support of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, is optimistic the group can help build a large supportive coalition for the proposed amendment.

"I know this will be a bipartisan campaign,'' he said.

Associated Press journalist Terry Chea in Fremont, California contributed to this report.

Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna

Missouri debates ban on LGBTQ education for all grades

By Summer Ballentine, Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri lawmakers argued Wednesday over a bill that would ban most LGBTQ education subjects for all grades in the state's public schools.

The proposal is modeled after a Florida education law passed last year, touted by supporters as protecting "parent's rights" and dubbed by opponents as a " Don't Say Gay " law.

The Missouri bill debated in a state House committee hearing would ban K-12 public school staff from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation.

The Florida law only prohibits teaching those subjects from kindergarten through third grade, although any lessons on those topics for students of any grade are also banned if they are not age-appropriate.

"Exposure to such topics is inappropriate for children, creating confusion which may then cause doubt in their identities," said Rep. Ann Kelley, a former teacher and the Republican sponsor of the Missouri bill. ''It is not the place of the school to indoctrinate our children by exposing them to gender and sexual identity curriculums and courses."

Kelley said her bill will need to be amended so it does not limit teaching for Advanced Placement courses.

In response to a question from a committee member, Kelley said she assumes that under her bill, educators would be banned from explaining the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage.

"It seems like the things that you want to prohibit are targeted to one particular group that you find disfavorable,'' Republican Rep. Phil Christofanelli told Kelley.

Democratic Rep. Ian Mackey, a former teacher who is openly gay, asked Kelley if him "being gay in the classroom" and not hiding that from students would be limited under her bill.

"Did you ever inform your students on your beliefs?" Kelley asked Mackey.
"They did know I was gay," Mackey said. "They would see my wedding ring and they would ask about it, and I would say I have a husband."
A committee vote on the bill was not scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.

The White House, Disney, and LGBTQ advocates criticized the passage of

Some Florida schools have since moved library books and debated changing textbooks in response to the new law. Some teachers have worried that family pictures on their desks could get them in trouble.

A federal judge in February again dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Florida law's constitutionality. The judge ruled that the students, parents and teachers who filed the lawsuit didn't have legal standing.

The Missouri Senate is considering a similar bill requiring public school teachers and staff to tell parents if their children "express discomfort or confusion.''