Equality Utah asks for injunction on 'anti-gay' school laws as lawsuit proceeds

SALT LAKE CITY — Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the Utah State Board of Education have called for an injunction as their case proceeds on school policies that they say target LGBT students and prohibit positive talk about homosexuality.

The lawsuit filed in October in Utah's U.S. District Court cited the experiences of three unnamed Utah students in elementary, middle and high school, which illustrate the situation faced daily by other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals around the state, according to the complaint.

Equality Utah claims in the lawsuit that Utah school policies violate constitutional rights of free speech and equal protection, as well as Title IX protections.

Utah's school policies prohibit any positive discussion of homosexuality in classroom discussions or student clubs, prevent teachers or school officials from supporting LGBT students to protect them from harassment, and restricts formation of LGBT student clubs, according to the lawsuit. The policies also continue to reference the state's now overturned Amendment 3, a voter-approved state definition of marriage as being the union between one man and one woman, the suit states.

Read more: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671949/Equality-Utah-asks-for-injunction-on-anti-gay-school-laws-as-lawsuit-proceeds.html