LGBT group Equality Arizona on Thursday sued the Arizona government, alleging that the state's HIV/AIDS instruction statute, ARS § 15-716(C), unconstitutionally discriminates against LGBTQ students and restricts their educational opportunities, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The challenged statute prohibits HIV and AIDS instruction that "promotes a homosexual lifestyle." Plaintiffs allege that the negative impact is significant because it communicates to teachers and students that "there is something so undesirable, shameful, or controversial about 'homosexuality' that any positive portrayal of non-heterosexual people or relationships must be barred."
