ASBA Blog

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Day 88

Recently, Equality Arizona filed a lawsuit, Equality Arizona v. Hoffman alleging the state law regarding HIV/AIDS education discriminates against LGBTQ students, violating the Equal Protection Clause in the Arizona Constitution.

Today, the Attorney General’s office announced that it would not defend the state in the lawsuit. This leaves the Legislature in the position to defend the lawsuit itself, or amend the statute around sex education in a way that will comply with the equal educational opportunity guarantee in the Arizona Constitution.

As a part of its commitment to educational equity, ASBA has been working with a number of advocates and stakeholders on this issue for some time, and we feel that the best way to address the issue is to repeal A.R.S. 15-716(C) in its entirety. A repeal of the “no promo homo” section of the statute returns curriculum decisions around HIV/AIDS to local governing boards. This is compatible with ASBA’s strong position in favor of removing state instructional mandates.

Please click here to email your Representatives about this issue.