OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling that embraced a reasonable interpretation of a state law combatting racism and sexism in Oklahoma education. In its ruling, the Supreme Court agreed with the Attorney General’s Office that House Bill 1775 does not reach college classrooms, but rather that it protects university students from being required to attend potentially harmful training and orientation sessions.
“I am grateful that the state Supreme Court has unanimously recognized and agreed with my Office’s longstanding and commonsense interpretation of the Legislature’s language in this bill,” Drummond said. “The ACLU’s position here has never been plausible and is now rightly rejected.”
In 2021, the state Legislature enacted HB 1775 to prohibit the teaching of certain racist and sexist concepts in K-12 education. It was also established to prohibit Oklahoma universities from requiring students to attend so-called sexual or racial “diversity” trainings and orientations. A collection of various advocacy organizations and opponents of the law, led by the ACLU, sued, putting forth far-fetched and overbroad readings of HB 1775’s provisions in an effort to claim the law is unconstitutional.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court was presented with six certified questions by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, where the original lawsuit was filed. While the Supreme Court declined to answer the last three questions, pertaining to K-12 education, it answered the first three questions definitively, embracing the Attorney General’s view and rejecting the ACLU’s arguments.
“We agree with Defendants’ construction” of the statute, the Supreme Court wrote. It stated that HB 1775 pertains only to orientation requirements and does not apply to classes, courses or curricular speech.
The case now returns to federal court for further developments.
Read the opinion.
