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Women's History Month 2022

This Women’s History Month, we celebrate LGBTQ+ artists, athletes, and activists who have changed — and continue changing — the game. Read below to learn more about their backgrounds and influential work.

Eudy Simelane

Eudy Simelane was a successful soccer player and coach from South Africa. She was one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in her hometown of KwaThema. Eudy used her prominence to foster a safe community for LGBTQ+ people in her township. Her work for other queer women sparked important conversations and changed how South Africans thought about fellow community members who are LGBTQ+. When Eudy was murdered in 2008, a bridge was built in her memory near the soccer field where she was found.

For the past five years, the Ujamaa Centre (at the University of KwaZulu-Natal) has hosted the annual Eudy Simelane Memorial Lecture. The digital interview-style lecture illustrates the complexities, nuances, and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ South Africans. It delves into the landscape of gender-based violence at the intersection of religion, sexuality, and gender. While this keynote reminds us of the violence that LGBTQ+ people may endure, it also reminds us to live with pride in the wake of those who lived authentically and were punished for it. Eudy’s existence was an act of resistance, and her mother, Mally, continued her legacy of resistance until she passed away in 2019.

Content warning: sexual assault and violent crime. Learn more about Eudy’s story and legacy.

Beth Brant

Beth Brant (Degonwadonti or Kaieneke’hak) was a writer who explored themes of family, Native American rights, and women’s rights. She was a member of the Mohawk tribe and had roots in Detroit, Michigan. She began writing at 40 years old after an unexpected encounter with a bald eagle. In an interview with Ann Perrault and Jackie Victor for Between the Lines, she explained how an eagle had landed in front of her car and made eye contact with her for “an unknown amount of time.”

Through her work, Beth corrected traditional American narratives by conveying the stories and friendships of other lesbian Indigenous women. In 1983, she published “A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection of Writing and Art by North American Indian Women,” the first published collection of Indigenous women’s writing in North America. This anthology of memoirs, poems, and letters is a culmination of Beth’s purpose. Today, her words continue to influence the American literary canon.

Find archived recordings of Beth reading her work at a Cornell lecture.

Sarah Rose Huckman

Sarah Rose Huckman is an athlete and trans rights advocate in New Hampshire. She is one of the protagonists of Changing the Game, a 2019 Hulu film that illustrates the experiences of three transgender athletes: skier Sarah, track runner Andraya Yearwood, and wrestler Mack Beggs. In an interview with the International Documentary Association, she states, “Through ‘Changing the Game’ I really hope people will get to know us as trans athletes who are just people trying to do what we love without the fear of being attacked or discriminated against.” Sarah is a game-changer both on and off the ski course. In 2016, her eligibility to compete on her high school’s track team was threatened by a discriminatory state policy. The regressive NH bill banned trans students from competing on the team that matched their gender identity unless they had gender reassignment surgery – an operation that doctors generally advise against at such a young age. Sarah, her parents, and GLAD lawyers fought the policy and won; New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) permitted her to participate in school sports. Sarah continues competitive skiing and combating harmful norms in her sport and home state.

You can find Sarah on Twitter (@SarahRose603).

Li Tingting

Li Tingting, or Li Maizi, is a radical women’s rights activist. Li has been under government surveillance – which has involved tapped phones, hacked emails, unannounced agent visits to her parents’ house – since 2012 after her first public display of resistance. On Valentine’s Day that year, Li and two fellow feminists wore wedding dresses covered in fake blood on the streets of Beijing to protest against domestic violence. In 2015, she and her girlfriend, Teresa Xu, were taken to a detention center the night before an International Women’s Day campaign, a demonstration that would have raised awareness about sexual harassment on public transportation. Li’s detention brought in a flood of attention regarding her cause, including online recognition from Hillary Clinton. Almost a year after Li’s arrest, China passed its first law against domestic violence (its lack of enforcement is evident, however). Despite gaps in already-scarce legislation and intimidation by the authorities, Li continues fighting for the rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and domestic violence survivors. She states in an interview with i-D magazine, “ […] the most important thing is I’m a feminist…I can’t give up. I would need to completely re-identify myself.”

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, sometimes referred to as the “Queer Mother of Rock-n-Roll,” settled her roots in a Black church in the Jim Crow South at six years old. Rosetta blended gospel, blues vocals, and electric guitar serenades in her performances. Tharpe’s artistry heavily influenced notable figures like Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. She not only played alongside Duke Ellington but was invited to perform at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Paramount, and the Apollo. However, after Rosetta’s death in 1973, her work was largely forgotten in the midst of white male rock/blues musicians. Because of the erasure of so many women and people of color from rock-n-roll’s early years, Rosetta has only recently been recognized for her tide-changing contribution to the music world. In 2018, Sister Rosetta was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in the “Early Influences” category, by Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard.

Which LGBTQ+ change-makers are you honoring this month? Tweet @GLADLaw and let us know!

Historic Nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown to the U.S. Supreme Court

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Statement of GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu:

We welcome this historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the next Associate Justice and the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. An exceptionally qualified and principled jurist, she brings nearly two decades of wide-ranging legal experience, including seven years as a district court judge followed by service on the D.C. Circuit to which she was confirmed last year. Our nation’s high Court is a venue where every American should know they can be heard fairly and Brown Jackson’s experience as a public defender and two terms with the U.S. Sentencing Commission speak volumes about her connection to and commitment to justice. Today’s announcement is a moment of hope in a challenging week and we look forward to a fair and timely confirmation process.

GLAD Condemns TX Governor Abbott’s Unprecedented, Out-of-Control Attack on Transgender Children and Families

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Statement of GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier:

Governor Abbott’s out-of-control, unprecedented attack on Texas children and families is abhorrent. Threatening parents for supporting their children and ensuring that they receive best-practice medical care amounts to state-sanctioned violence. It is an attack on the fundamental rights of parents to make decisions in the best interests of their own children.

Despite having no basis in law, the Governor’s overreaching political attack is already causing pain and injury. We are sending love and support to all transgender children and their families in Texas and beyond.

To all transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive children– you are beautiful and your supportive parents and medical providers are backed by science, law, and an army of advocates.

The Governor’s threat to use state power to separate families is also a reminder of the violence that the so-called child welfare system inflicts on children and families every day by over-policing Black and Brown families. We hope this is a wake-up call for increased accountability and oversight of systems that stoke fear rather than provide support for vulnerable children and families.

Texas families: you have allies and advocates who are fighting for you. Reach out to Equality Texas, TENT, NCLR, and Lambda Legal.

All of us can continue to speak out in support of transgender youth and against anti-transgender attacks no matter where they arise. Find out what is happening in your state, send support to transgender youth, families, and advocates throughout the U.S., and take action.

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This Black History Month, we are highlighting incredible creatives and collectives who have made history and are changing the future of Black LGBTQ+ lives. Read below to learn more about their backgrounds and influential work.

Niki Franco , aka Venus Roots, (she/they) is a queer Caribbean organizer, abolitionist, and self-described “forever student.” Her work involves storytelling about land preservation, liberation, radical histories, and equitable futures. Franco’s most recent work takes form in the film medium; their short film “Every Step Is a Prayer,” produced by Nowness, won “Best Experimental Film” at the Miami Short Film Festival 2021. The techno-surrealist piece illustrates Black and Indigenous individuals in the Florida Everglades – it is a story of liberation for the people who have cultivated the land. In the audio medium, Franco hosts the podcast, “Getting to the Root of It with Venus Roots,” in which she has intimate interviews with fellow organizers, scholars, and artists. They have held conversations with Mimi Zhu, Adrienne Marie Brown, Manolo De Los Santos, and more. “Getting to the Root of It” is a space for collective study, as it queers boundaries and questions the binaries in which we live. To add to Niki’s non-exhaustive list of achievements, she organizes with Power U Center for Social Change and (F)empower in her home of Miami. Niki’s labor within the larger network of community organizers is a testament to the power of the people. 

You can find Niki on Instagram (@venusroots) or Twitter (@VenusRoots).

Georgia-raised TAYLOR ALXNDR  (they/she) is a musician, drag performer, community organizer, and multimedia artist. They provide nonbinary and agender representation in the music industry, a space that whiteness and heteronormativity have historically shaped. While their public artistic journey began years prior via drag performances at local bars, their breakthrough single “Nightwork” expanded her reach in 2017. In 2014, they co-founded Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP), an organization that empowers the voices of queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) in Atlanta via the arts. ALXNDR, and several organizers who join them, have one vision in mind: hosting a creative space for trans folks and prioritizing those who are Black and/or Indigenous. SFQP’s most recent event, “SWEET TEA: A Queer Variety Show,” showcased performances by Southern comedians, drag performers, and musicians. To ensure that this event was accessible to all, SWEET TEA’s description states, “No one is turned away for lack of funds at the door. Sliding scale, pay what you can.” ALXNDR’s work is inherently intersectional; her labor is at the crux of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, class status, and disability status. This is the essence of advocacy.  

You can find Taylor Alxndr (@tayloralxndr) or SFQP (@sfpq) on Instagram.

Alice Walker  (she/her) is a renowned bisexual poet, novelist, and Pulitzer Prize winner. She spent her childhood in 1950s Georgia and is the eighth child of parents who were sharecroppers. “The Color Purple,” a literary classic that portrays Black female friendships as resistance to violent individuals and systems, cemented her literary reputation. About one decade after the novel was published, Walker came to terms with her sexuality: “I always loved men and women, but I had to understand that.” Walker’s identity, writing, and social advocacy are inseparable. She acknowledges and condemns the hypocrisy of the feminist movement. She believes that contemporary feminism advocates for some women’s rights, yet simultaneously excludes Black women and women of color at large. In opposition, Walker views “womanist” as an intersectional counter-term to the flawed “feminist.” Because Womanism confronts racial and class-based oppression, it is an all-encompassing and inclusive ideology. Walker puts it best: “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.” 

You can find Alice Walker on Facebook (@authoralicewalker).

Brian Michael Smith (he/him) is an American actor whose first breakthrough role was in Ava Duvernay’s “Queen Sugar.” He found his love for acting during childhood. While playing characters within the gender binary, he navigated his own gender identity as his career progressed. In 2017, Smith publicly identified as transgender and “used his role on ‘Queen Sugar’ as a vehicle for coming out.” Smith uses his platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, opportunities, safety, and representation. He uses his visibility on television to promote the visibility of other Black trans individuals. Smith joined Laverne Cox and other actors in conversation in Variety Magazine’s “Transgender in Hollywood Roundtable,” a YouTube series that facilitates discourse about the realities of working in Hollywood. Smith’s presence and voice – in a space occupied by white and cisgender agents, roles, and directors – is an act of resistance against century-old systems of oppression. 

You can find Brian Michael Smith on Instagram (@the_brianmichael).

Southerners on New Ground  (SONG) is a collective of thousands of Southern rural LGBTQ+ people of color, immigrant people, and working-class people. The organization works to build new futures in the South — it serves LGBTQ+ people through community organizing for economic and racial justice. Its labor occurs in social, legal, and political landscapes. The Atlanta chapter, for example, has a Court Watch program that monitors whether officials adhere to Fulton County’s bail reform ordinance, which eliminates cash bail for non-violent misdemeanors and felonies. Atlanta SONG members have found that most officials do not abide by the ordinance. If not for the organization’s persistence and strength, many harmful actions in local political proceedings would go unrecorded. Ensuring protections for targeted community members is labor-intensive, but vital. SONG gets its fuel from collective power, mutual trust, and the belief that social movements are one of the keys to liberation. 

You can find Southerners on New Ground on Instagram (@ignitekindred).

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We keep fighting because we are committed to the long game. We fight with determination, because we know optimism is not a luxury, but a responsibility – to past generations on whose shoulders we stand and to next generations on whose futures hope hangs.

In a recent episode of Amicus hosted by legal journalist Dahlia Lithwick, departing President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Sherrilyn Ifill issued a potent reminder that the escalating attacks we have seen over the past year on voting rights and on teaching the truth about race and racism in the classroom must be seen for what they are: a direct response to recent critical advances toward racial justice.

As we consider the implications of the attempted insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and continue to fight the attacks on voting rights across the country, Ifill commends us to remember the historic voter turnout in the November 2020 election and the January 5 special election in Georgia. Such deep and broad democratic engagement, particularly from Black and Brown communities, is what motivated far right lawmakers into passing drastic new measures to burden voting rights. Similarly, Ifill says, the surge of bills aiming to whitewash how American history is taught in schools should be seen as a response to the multiracial mass uprisings in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, which elicited “empathy and a sense of justice” amongst millions of Americans.

In other words, the unprecedented attacks that we are experiencing are in reaction to the unprecedent gains that we have fought long and hard for. They must be seen as validation of our successes and a reason to fight on – not admit defeat.

For me, Ifill’s powerful comments were a call to action as I think about what comes next in our intertwined struggle for racial and LGBTQ+ justice.

Last year we began to see the impact of the organized right-wing effort to censor classroom discussions about the history and present-day reality of systemic racism and other structural inequalities, under the guise of restricting the teaching of “critical race theory.” Between January and September 2021, right wing lawmakers invoked anti-CRT rhetoric to justify 54 bills across 24 states. At least 11 are now law in 9 states. Most of these bills target discussions of race and racism in American history, banning a series of “prohibited” or “divisive” concepts for teachers and trainers operating in K-12 schools, public universities, and workplace settings. In increasing cases these laws also include bans on discussions of gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

Just before the new year, GLAD, with a coalition of partners, filed a federal lawsuit to challenge a newly enacted censorship law in New Hampshire that prevents educators from talking about race, gender, LGBTQ+ identity, or disability in the classroom. This law restricts New Hampshire’s teachers from being able to cover important topics like racism and slavery and puts teachers at risk of professional discipline and lawsuits if they do. It also hurts LGBTQ+ students, students of color, students with disabilities and those with intersecting identities by marginalizing and silencing them in the classroom.

Learning the full picture of America’s history – both the good and the bad – is how students come to empathize with perspectives different than their own, develop critical thinking skills, and appreciate the rich diversity of our communities and our country. It’s also how students with historically marginalized and intersectional identities can see themselves in their text books and in their communities.

In a climate that already included unprecedented attacks on transgender and LGBQ students, our opponents have taken on this new front in school curriculum with ferocity.

In addition to the New Hampshire law we are fighting in court, a bill introduced in Tennessee seeks to ban curricular materials that “promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles.” A bill moving in Florida would ban talking about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom and encourage parents to sue schools or teachers if they believe such discussions are taking place.

These attacks too must be seen for what they are: a response to the gains we have made for LGBTQ+ inclusion in recent years.

Currently, 6 states have laws supporting LGBTQ+ curriculum in school, most recently Nevada which passed its curriculum law in June 2021. Learning about the contributions of groundbreaking LGBTQ+ figures has a huge impact on young people’s sense of belonging, helping them to picture their own future. It is also how non-LGBTQ+ youth learn how to empathize with their LGBTQ+ peers and appreciate the diverse world they will live and work in as adults. Imagine what our future could look like if every student in every state learned about LGBTQ+ contributions to American history, literature, and science.

Our opponents can also see that possible future, and they are doing everything in their power to keep that future from coming to fruition. They understand that given the already seismic shifts in people’s attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people in the last decade, particularly amongst younger adults, their only strategy to win is to start early.

The fight ahead is daunting. But here’s what I also know:

While the right may have slowed down or in some situations reversed our progress, those tactics will ultimately fail. That’s because our community and movement know how to fight back, persevere, and ultimately win the long game.

Take our decades long fight to win marriage equality. Over two decades of advocacy, we won and lost state supreme court decisions, we made gains in state legislatures and saw reversals at the ballot box. But all that time we persevered – honing legal arguments and telling our stories so that our family, neighbors and coworkers came to understand what we were fighting for.

By the time GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto argued in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of same-sex couples nationwide, a majority of Americans supported the equal right to marriage and many assumed that victory was inevitable. But our victories have never been inevitable – they have only been made possible through hard work and perseverance.

We keep fighting because we are committed to the long game. We fight with determination, because we know optimism is not a luxury, but a responsibility – to past generations on whose shoulders we stand and to next generations on whose futures hope hangs.

The challenges before us may feel at times overwhelming. But we cannot let those challenges make us forget what we’ve gained.

Even against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID pandemic, escalating state legislative attacks on LGB and particularly transgender people, and growing threats to our democratic institutions, GLAD – with our partners, allies, and supporters – has accomplished life-changing victories in the past year:

Securing our families
- We led coalition efforts to pass in Connecticut one of the most child-centered, inclusive, and comprehensive parentage laws in the country, ensuring that all children in the state have equal access to the security of a legal relationship to their parents.
- We helped pass updates to Maine’s parentage laws to expand access to Voluntary Acknowledgments of Parentage, a simple mechanism long available to establish parentage but previously inaccessible to many parents, including LGBTQ+ parents, in Maine.
- We supported successful efforts to reverse the Trump-era policy of denying citizenship to children born through assisted reproduction, ensuring the U.S. State Department now recognizes the citizenship of children born abroad to LGBTQ+ married parents where at least one parent is a U.S. citizen and the child has a genetic or gestational tie to either parent
Protecting our youth
- We submitted an amicus brief that contributed to a ruling from the First Circuit Court of Appeals upholding Massachusetts’ anti-bullying law and affirming the inclusion of “emotional harm” in the definition of bullying.
- We launched a new website “Safe Schools for All” with movement partners, which provides tools to students, parents, and supporters to take action against bullying.
- We helped pass reforms to Maine’s juvenile legal system that will divert young children from incarceration and ensure that when youth are incarcerated, they have a legal advocate in their corner able to articulate their concerns and ask for a closer look at their circumstances.
Safeguarding our health
- We worked with partners to successfully advocate for an innovative law in Maine that expands access to PrEP by authorizing pharmacists to dispense the powerful medication that nearly completely prevents the transmission of HIV, while connecting individuals to vital healthcare services.
Advancing equality
- We helped win a major ruling from the highest court in Massachusetts, holding for the first time that peremptory challenges based on a prospective juror’s sexual orientation are prohibited by both the Massachusetts and federal constitutions.
- We helped pass new laws in Rhode Island that increase housing security and reduce threats of harassment and violence in public spaces for LGBTQ+ Rhode Islanders.
- We successfully advocated to the NH Department of Motor Vehicles to revise the process for nonbinary and transgender individuals to correct the gender marker on their driver’s license or state ID, eliminating the requirement of a health care provider’s sworn certification that the applicant is under the provider’s care for “change of gender.”
Defending against attacks
- We celebrated the end of Trump’s transgender military ban, where GLAD made significant contributions toward ending the ban through four separate federal cases and a national public education campaign.
- We defeated efforts in New Hampshire and Maine to ban participation of transgender girls in school sports, as well as efforts in Maine to allow exclusion of transgender women from shelters.

In 2022, there are more fights to tackle together. And we’re ready.

We are ready to join with all those who care about democracy and the promise of justice and equality for all people in the critical fight to protect and expand voting rights.
We are ready pass federal nondiscrimination protections through the Equality Act, to explicitly add LGBTQ+ people to our nation’s civil rights laws for the first time and to expand protections based on race and sex.
We’re ready to stop the spread of laws targeting LGBTQ+ people across the country – that’s why GLAD is challenging a dangerous law in Tennessee that forces business to post signage that sends the message that transgender customers are not welcome.
We are ready to make sure LGBTQ+ people can age with dignity, respect, and the support and care we all deserve. GLAD is representing an older woman in Maine who was denied access to an assisted living center simply because she is transgender.
We are ready for all our families to have the legal security we need. That’s why GLAD is leading a coalition to build support for a new law that would ensure all families are protected in Massachusetts, no matter how they are formed.
We are ready to ensure everyone who needs it can access PrEP to prevent HIV transmission, no matter their economic status, insurance, or proximity to healthcare resources
We are ready to address the systemic racism and lack of LGBTQ+ support and competency in our systems of child welfare
We are ready to stop the brutality of our systems of incarceration and intercept the school to juvenile justice to prison pipeline so that all young people have the chance to thrive
We are ready to close remaining health insurance gaps so that everyone can access the care they need.
We are ready to fight efforts to ban lessons and conversations about race, disability, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation in the classroom and instead establish model, inclusive curriculum.
And so much more.

At the end of Ifill’s Amicus interview she posits: if we care about the future, what other options do we have but to fight?

“Are we good for it?” Ifill asks.

I know I am, and I know you are too. No one said that journey to justice would be short or easy, but together we will persevere each step of the way.

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GLAD executive Director Janson Wu issued a statement on the January 19 Senate vote on the Voting Rights Bill:

“It is disgraceful and disheartening to see the U.S. Senate fail in its responsibility to protect our most fundamental right. Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. Protecting the right to vote for everyone is what makes our shared aspirations of freedom and equality for all people possible.

The fight to secure voting rights is not new, and it is not over. Civil Rights leaders and state-based advocates have steered this work long before today and their message is clear: the work goes on. We must all commit to doing everything we can in our states, in our local communities, and with our federal legislators to strengthen and protect the vital right to vote and ensure the survival of our democracy.”

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Protect the Vote: Honor MLK with Action

As LGBTQ+ people, as with every community and constituency in this country, our fates are tied to the survival of our democracy. It is a question of whether or not our voices will be heard and our communities will be represented and protected.

Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and voting is our most fundamental right. Protecting that right for everyone is what makes freedom, equity, and equality for LGBTQ+ people and all people possible.

This weekend, as our nation celebrates the powerful legacy of Civil Rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we must honor that legacy with action. The message is clear: Congress must seize this moment to pass national voting rights legislation and protect our most fundamental right.

Take Action: Contact your Senators today and tell them it’s time to deliver on voting rights. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and reauthorized it repeatedly on a bipartisan basis in order to eliminate discriminatory voting laws, particularly those targeting Black Americans.

But recent Supreme Court decisions have gutted that critical law, and those who would deny our fundamental right to vote have swooped in to take advantage:

In this year alone, 19 states across the country have passed laws that make it harder for people – particularly people in Black and Brown communities – to vote.

Democracy can’t wait another minute. It’s time for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to protect our fundamental right to vote.

Call your Senators today and tell them to support the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act next week.

Virginia v. Ferriero

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On January 10, GLAD and other equality and gender justice advocates filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in Virginia v Ferriero supporting the case for recognizing the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. This case was brought by the Attorneys General in the last three states to ratify the ERA (Virginia, Illinois, and Nevada) and seeks to compel the National Archivist (David Ferriero) to recognize the ERA as it has been ratified by three-quarters of states, satisfying the constitutional threshold.

Read the brief here

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On the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol, GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu issued a statement:

“As LGBTQ+ people, as with every community and constituency in this country, our fates are tied to the survival of our democracy. It is a question of whether or not our voices will be heard, whether our communities will be represented and protected, and whether those who spread lies and foment fear in order to gain power will be held accountable. That is why we must do all we can to secure and strengthen our democratic institutions, including the fundamental right to vote. And it is why we must fully reckon with what happened one year ago today so that it never happens again.”

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CONCORD, N.H. – A diverse group of educators, advocacy groups, and law firms filed a federal lawsuit today challenging a New Hampshire classroom censorship law, contained within state budget bill HB2, which discourages public school teachers from teaching and talking about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity in the classroom.

New Hampshire is one of many states across the country that passed similar laws in 2021 aimed at censoring discussions around race and gender in the classroom.This is the third federal lawsuit in the country to facially challenge one of these bans, including the ACLU’s recently filed lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s classroom censorship ban. The New Hampshire lawsuit argues that HB2’s language unconstitutionally chills educators’ voices under the 14^th Amendment, and prevents students from having an open and complete dialogue about the perspectives of historically marginalized communities, as well as on topics concerning race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

The lawsuit was brought by New Hampshire school administrators Andres Mejia and Christina Kim Philibotte, who both specialize in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The lawsuit was also brought by the National Education Association – New Hampshire (NEA-NH), which is comprised of more than 17,000 member educators in New Hampshire and represents the majority of all public school employees in the state.

They are represented by lawyers from a broad coalition of organizations and law firms, including the NEA-NH and National Education Association, the ACLU, the ACLU of New Hampshire, Disability Rights Center – New Hampshire, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Nixon Peabody LLP, Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP, and Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.

“We have dedicated our careers to creating an education community where every student—including Black and Brown students, students of color, students from the LGBTQAI+ community, students with disabilities, and students from other historically marginalized identities—feel like they belong,” said plaintiff Andres Mejia, the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice for the Exeter Region Cooperative School District, and plaintiff Christina Kim Philibotte, the Chief Equity Officer for the Manchester School District. “This law chills the very type of diversity, equity, and inclusion work that is absolutely necessary to ensure that each student is seen, heard, and connected, especially as New Hampshire becomes more diverse. We are proud to join this broad coalition challenging this law.”

According to the lawsuit, the law is so unclear and vague that it fails to provide necessary guidance to educators about what they can and cannot include in their courses, and that it invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement—up to and including the loss of teaching licenses.

“This unconstitutionally vague law disallows students from receiving the inclusive, complete education they deserve, and from having important conversations on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity in the classroom,” said Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “It is an attack on educators who are simply doing their job. Just four months into the school year, teachers are reporting being afraid to teach under this law for fear of being taken to court. This law, through vagueness and fear, erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.”

Following the bill’s passage, the NEA-NH began to hear from teachers that they were confused about what they could and could not teach, and that they were scared of the repercussions for guessing wrong. On multiple occasions, NEA-NH and other groups sent letters to the state asking for specific clarification. These letters went unanswered and unacknowledged.

“Teachers are trained and experienced in education and have a duty to set their students up to be successful contributors to society,” said Megan Tuttle, President of the National Education Association – New Hampshire. “Across New Hampshire, parents and educators are working together to build stronger public schools and create opportunities for students. Parents and educators agree that students should learn complete facts about historical events like slavery and civil rights. They agree that politicians shouldn’t be censoring classroom discussions between students and their teachers, and that educators shouldn’t have their licenses and livelihoods put at risk by a vague law.”

Although significant advances have been made in protecting the legal rights of people with disabilities, they continue to confront discrimination, ableism, stigma, and bias on a daily basis. For instance, in New Hampshire, school discipline has proven to be disproportionately harsh on students with disabilities, with even higher suspension rates for students of color with disabilities. Breaking down these barriers, both physical and societal, has required and continues to require open discussion about difficult subjects by people of all ages, especially by young people in educational settings.

“The banned concepts statute is a significant threat to the disability rights movement,” said Stephanie Patrick, Executive Director of Disability Rights Center-NH. “Necessary classroom discussions about disability, mental illness, ableism, inclusion, and other related topics will not occur if teachers fear that they will face discipline as a result. The chilling effect of this law not only threatens continued progress toward an inclusive society, it also jeopardizes the progress we have already made.”

In New Hampshire, LGBTQ+ youth face staggering levels of discrimination, with a 2019 state survey assessing school climate for LGBTQ+ youth in the state’s secondary schools finding that up to 63% of respondents reported verbal harassment for sexual orientation, and up to 22% reported physical harassment.

“Every day, dedicated teachers and administrators in New Hampshire public schools work to help students understand the world around them and prepare them for success as adults in this increasingly diverse state and country. This includes teaching the full picture of American history—both good and bad—so that students can reconcile its effect on our society in the present,” said Chris Erchull, Staff Attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. “Setting vague conditions on what educators can say about race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability not only harms students with historically marginalized identities but creates a climate of fear that denies all students the freedom to learn and the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, and to appreciate human differences.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Banned Concepts Act unconstitutional under the 14^th Amendment, and issue an order barring its enforcement.

NEA President Becky Pringle said, “Parents and teachers want to give kids – regardless of race and place – the best public education possible. They want kids to learn and grow and to prepare them to make sense of the present and prepare for the future. While educators—in New Hampshire and across the country—work to deliver our children an accurate and honest education, some policymakers continue to deny far too many of our children the resources needed for a quality public education based on what they look like or where they live. Now those politicians want to censor instruction, threatening educators with sanctions, including the loss of their very licenses to teach, for providing honest answers to students who ask how our history affects our present and how racism and sexism continues to impact our society. Our students deserve the truth so they can build the more perfect union for which we all long. Our educators deserve our support, not sanctions for educating our children.”

Emerson Sykes, Staff Attorney at the ACLU, said,“All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and accurate history in schools, free from censorship or discrimination. This law is drafted in a way that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited. The law unconstitutionally chills students’ and educators’ rights to learn and talk about race, gender, and disability and prevents students from having open conversations about our history.”

Morgan Nighan, an attorney with Nixon Peabody LLP, said, “Access to a public education that is equitable, inclusive and accurate is every students’ right. This bill attempts to censor what is taught in the classroom, to prevent honest, open dialogues about our country’s history with race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, and many other marginalized groups. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, we must encourage students to explore our history with a critical eye and embrace our differences as strengths.”

Below are additional comments from:

Asma Elhuni, Movement Politics Director at Rights and Democracy NH, said, “Every child regardless of race, gender, or religion deserves the freedom to learn and develop the knowledge and skill set to wrestle with the past, create a better future, and have the opportunity to live out their dreams. Self-interested politicians have chosen to censor the truth from our students, robbing them of the ability to understand that mistakes do and have happened, and what we do with mistakes, whether we learn from them or decide to repeat them is what matters. Rights and Democracy is thankful to see such a broad range of people in our communities coming together to challenge this unjust law. Together we will prove that when we join forces, we can build schools where every student – no matter their color or zip code they live in- have the freedom to learn honest history and stride together for a better tomorrow where everyone will have the ability to thrive.”

Maggie Fogarty, NH Program Director at American Friends Service Committee, said, “The Banned Concepts Act prevents the learning and critical thinking that are essential for a healthy society. It harms teachers and administrators who are forced to navigate its vagueness under threat of penalty, as well as students who are denied access to education about essential concepts such as racism and injustice. New Hampshire communities are weakened by the silence and fear that this Act seeks to impose. It is truth-telling that is needed now, not censorship. It is courage that is needed now, not fear. The American Friends Service Committee applauds this important lawsuit as an effort to protect public education and democracy, and to support the ongoing and urgent work for a more equitable society.”

Zandra Rice Hawkins, Executive Director of Granite State Progress, said, “Our children deserve an honest education that teaches them about America’s triumphs and also where our country has failed to lead, so that we can continue to build a more perfect union. Far-right actors at the state and national level are using laws like this to slow progress on racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and to further push for the privatization of public education. It is to our detriment as a society to let them succeed. We are thankful for this lawsuit.”

James McKim, Managing Partner of Organizational Ignition, said, “The Right to Freedom from Discrimination statute passed as part of 2021 NH HB2 (formerly called the ‘Divisive Concepts’ statute) is an example of how seemingly well-intentioned legislation, and I am being generous here giving the benefit of the doubt that the legislation’s sponsors had in mind the benefit of everyone – not just those socialized as white, can be more damaging than saying nothing. My consulting practice helping organizations benefit from the diversity in our state and nation has been significantly negatively impacted by this statute. And people of color I know around the nation have told me this legislation makes New Hampshire seem unwelcoming. It is not only poorly crafted in language, but this it was not asked for by those whom it seems to seek to protect which makes it poor governance as articulated by the NAACP’s legal challenge to Executive Order 13950 (the ‘Order’) on which the New Hampshire statute was modeled. The citizens of New Hampshire, deserve better.”

Ronelle Tshiela, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter Manchester, said, “The law prohibiting ‘banned concepts’ is an attempt to root out teaching of systemic racism by forcing educators to be dishonest about our nation’s history. Black Lives Matter Manchester supports any effort to overturn it, and we applaud the educators who are fighting back.”

This lawsuit comes weeks before the start of the 2022 New Hampshire legislative session, which will include multiple bills designed to double down on classroom censorship. HB1255 would expand New Hampshire’s Cold War-era “teacher loyalty” law to restrict the teaching of “any doctrine or theory promoting a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States.” HB1313 would expand HB2’s banned concepts language to include the state’s public higher education institutions. Legislation has also been introduced, including HB1090 and SB304, which would repeal the banned concepts language in HB2 and replace it with language that would protect educators who teach about the “historical or current experiences” of protected groups.

This lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

Learn more and read the filing.