Officials unsure how federal ruling will affect Oklahoma law banning race, gender discussions

Federal court cases from the Western District of Oklahoma are adjudicated at the William J. Holloway Jr. United States Courthouse in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/ Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — Officials on Monday said they were exploring how a federal judge’s decision to temporarily block enforcement of parts of a controversial law that forbids the teaching of some gender and race concepts would impact Oklahoma school districts and universities.

U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin late Friday afternoon issued his temporary injunction against parts of House Bill 1775. The decision comes more than two years after a coalition of teachers, students, activists and college professors first sued, arguing the law is vaguely worded and confusing.

It bars eight race and gender concepts from public school classrooms and bans universities from requiring certain mandatory diversity training.

Goodwin’s decision, among other things, temporarily bars the state from enforcing provisions of the 2021 law that bans public colleges and universities from including information on race or sex in orientations and prohibits public schools from teaching some specific concepts about race and gender discrimination.

Goodwin’s order also blocks the state from implementing any administrative rules that violate his decision while litigation continues.

Among other things, House Bill 1775 forbids teaching that a person is inherently racist, that people are responsible for the actions of others of their race or sex and that students should feel discomfort or guilt over previous actions committed by others of their gender or race.

Critics said it is impossible to teach students the state’s academic standards and comply with the law. They argued because the law is written so vaguely, it violates their constitutional rights to due process and free speech. They said free speech protections ensure educators’ rights to speak about controversial subjects and for students to hear them.

Supporters argued that while teachers can’t endorse any banned topics, they can teach about race and gender as long as it relates to the lengthy list of topics that must be taught in public schools. Those include race relations, the Ku Klux Klan and the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Teachers who violate the law could have their licenses revoked.Tulsa Public Schools already experienced an accreditation downgrade because of implicit bias statements in a training.

State Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, who authored House Bill 1775, said he’s certain the law will end up being upheld because he believes the concepts being prohibited are very clear.

“It’s going to be a long process, I think, getting through exactly what the ruling is and the overall effect is going to be for the immediate,” West said. “I am glad that it happened now. We still have the summer to figure all of that out so that we don’t have a lot of confusion in the schools as to how it gets applied.”

He said lawmakers can also use the summer months to determine whether follow up legislation is necessary to clarify some provisions.

“I don’t necessarily see a disruption because between the attorney general, myself and several others, we’re going to be looking at this really close and see what adjustments need to be made,” West said.

Barring a quick apparel and ruling, West said he believes the biggest adjustment will be to the administrative rules put in place to enforce HB 1775. He said officials have about a month to sort those out so that there’s not a major disruption when school starts in August.

A spokesperson for the State Department of Education said the ruling was still being reviewed by legal counsel Monday, so the agency had no comment.

But in a statement Monday, the Attorney General’s Office said it believes the injunction will have a “negligible” impact on teachers and schools regarding how topics regarding race and gender are taught.

“It is gratifying that the Court rejected the push by the ACLU and its fellow plaintiffs to allow teaching that one race or sex is inherently superior to another,” said spokesperson Phil Bacharach. “ Our office is reviewing the full ruling, which is complicated and nuanced.”

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union, whose attorneys were among those to challenge the law, said the partial injunction will “blunt” the impact of “Oklahoma’s classroom censorship law.”

“This ruling is an important victory for our clients and other Oklahoma students and teachers who value inclusive education. HB 1775’s prohibition on teaching banned concepts can no longer be applied in college classrooms, and K-12 teachers are now safe from the Act’s most confusing restrictions,” said Emerson Sykes, an ACLU attorney. “We look forward to the court permanently striking down this unconstitutional classroom censorship law.”

The ACLU said the law cannot be enforced in university classrooms while the lawsuit continues. The ruling also provides guidance to educators. While they can’t endorse banned concepts, they can discuss sexism and racism, attorneys said.

“We are thrilled that robust and nuanced discussions of history, identity, and culture may return to Oklahoma university classrooms and that K-12 teachers have some much-needed guidance in navigating the law,” said Megan Lambert, ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation legal director. “We will continue to defend Oklahoma’s students and teachers from politically motivated censorship and racial discrimination.”

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