AUSTIN, Texas — The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas) and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) announced today that they will sue to challenge unconstitutional aspects of Senate Bill 12, one of the most extreme education bans in the country.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 12 into law Friday, June 20. It is scheduled to take effect September 1 and be implemented in the 2025-2026 school year. The law bars all programs and activities that mention race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation in K-12 public schools in Texas, including charter schools.
S.B. 12 also bans Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs), inhibits teachers’ ability to support transgender students, and stops students from receiving information about gender identity or sexual orientation in every grade level from kindergarten through 12th grade. The prohibitions also apply to after-school programs, field trips, and informal guidance provided by parents, volunteers, and school employees.
“This ban on education harms Texas schools by shutting down important discussions and programs that mention race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation,” said Brian Klosterboer (he/him), ACLU of Texas senior staff attorney. “Students should be free to learn about themselves and the world around them, but S.B. 12 aims to punish kids for being who they are and ban teachers from supporting them. It sends the false message that Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, and other students don’t belong in the classroom or in our state. We’re taking legal action to challenge this discriminatory law and reaffirm that all students should have access to a safe, inclusive education that prepares them for their futures in our diverse state, no exceptions.”
Florida has agreed to narrow key aspects of a similar “Don’t Say Gay” law during settlement negotiations and a federal court blocked multiple aspects of anti-LGBTQIA+ school speech restrictions in Iowa. The Trump administration’s efforts to stop programs and activities from discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in K-12 schools have also been blocked by federal courts.
“S.B. 12 seeks to erase students’ identities and make it impossible for teachers, parents, and volunteers to tell the truth about the history and diversity of our state,” said Cameron Samuels (they/them), executive director for SEAT. “State leaders have been in the business of manufacturing problems that don’t exist – such as stoking fear against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – to ignore the solutions that students need and deserve. And barring student organizations and teachers from supporting LGBTQIA+ young people, particularly trans and nonbinary students, is inflicting even more harm and making our schools unsafe and unjust. As students, Texas must not exclude us from the narrative or decision-making in curricula. We are here to ensure that inclusive public education is a cornerstone to our state’s pluralistic and multicultural democracy.”
The ACLU of Texas and SEAT plan to challenge S.B. 12 alongside a coalition of Texans whose constitutional rights are harmed by this new law. Anyone impacted by S.B. 12 should reach out at https://intake.aclutx.org/.
For more information about your rights and advocacy in Texas, visit SEAT’s Resource Hub at https://www.studentsengaged.org/resources and the ACLU of Texas’ Students’ Rights Hub at https://www.aclutx.org/en/students-rights-hub.
