Attorney General Todd Rokita is advocating for students' First Amendment rights in a legal brief arguing that the government cannot compel students to use others' "preferred pronouns" against their deeply held beliefs. Rokita, along with a coalition of attorneys general, has challenged school administrators nationwide who enforce "anti-harassment" rules that require students to conform to gender identity preferences or face consequences.
“Exerting government force to require students to speak certain words or affirm certain beliefs is about as Orwellian as it gets,” Attorney General Rokita stated. “Many people believe that a person’s sex — either male or female — is a matter of biological fact rather than a matter of personal choice. Whether led to that conclusion by faith or science, the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to espouse such a view and to use pronouns that align with it.”
In an amicus brief, Attorney General Rokita and 21 other attorneys general contest a policy adopted by a school district near Columbus, Ohio, which mandates the use of preferred pronouns regardless of personal beliefs. The attorneys general argue that the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit should rehear the case after a three-judge panel from that court ruled 2-1 in favor of the school district.
“The First Amendment does not allow school officials to coerce students into expressing messages inconsistent with the students’ values,” states the brief. It further argues, “The First Amendment stringently limits a State’s authority to compel a private party to express a view with which the private party disagrees.”
The brief was led by Ohio and South Carolina.
A headshot of Attorney General Rokita is available online.
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