Kathryn Kendell (Utah Bar No. 5398) NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS 870 Market Street, Suite 370 San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel: (415) 392-6527
[email protected] Douglas H. Hallward-Driemeier (pro hac vice application pending) Jeremiah L. Williams (pro hac vice application pending) ROPES & GRAY LLP 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington D.C. 20006 Tel: (202) 508-4600
[email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiffs IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION EQUALITY UTAH; JOHN DOE, by his next friend and parent JANET DOE; JAMES DOE, by his next friend and parent JUSTINE DOE; and JANE DOE, by her next friend and parent JESSIE DOE, Plaintiffs, Civil Action No. ______ v. COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY UTAH STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SYDNEE DICKSON, in her official capacity as State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the JURY DEMANDED State of Utah; BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CACHE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; CACHE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; BOARD OF EDUCATION OF JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT; JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT; BOARD OF EDUCATION OF WEBER SCHOOL DISTRICT; and WEBER SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendants. INTRODUCTION 1. This action seeks to enjoin enforcement of Utah laws that infringe upon the constitutional rights of students and teachers by facially targeting lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons for disparate treatment, by prohibiting positive student and teacher speech about “homosexuality,” while permitting positive speech about the sexual orientation of heterosexual persons, and by prohibiting the equal treatment of student clubs that are supportive of students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (“LGBT”). The state laws and regulations challenged in this action—hereinafter the “Anti-Gay School Laws”—expressly prohibit speech that “advocat[es] homosexuality” in public school classrooms and student clubs.