SafeZone

Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights brought the federal lawsuit, the main defendant being Molly Spearman, SC’s State Superintendent of Education. The lawsuit claims that the South Carolina law violates the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection under the law free from discrimination.
This article raises important points in explaining how the law violates the 14th Amendment. The law restricts information provided about certain groups of people and not others, which promotes the spread of disinformation and prevents the proper and appropriate health education of young adults.
Some important takeaways: LGBQ students may feel invisible; these laws prevent the positive portrayal of LGBQ people; LGBQ students may internalize feelings of inadequacy; they may feel isolated; students in states with these laws are more likely to face harassment.

"The perfect example [of student struggle] is in sex ed. class when the teacher doesn’t want to be teaching the subject gets up and says, “I don’t want to do this either,” or “I’m just as uncomfortable as you are.” At least a couple of the participants viewed that as an immediate signal that this person is not actually a good information source, and “who knows how credible I can view the information that is coming from them?”
"What I did, basically, was to interview four participants, four teenagers, to find answers to two streams of questions: how do they find, assess, look for information about sex education that supplements what they are already receiving in the formal streams. But, in addition, they did also talk about their formal streams of information–when I say formal I mean from formal education, so sex ed. classes. I also asked them about their use of the library, if they do use the library and if they do not what might stop them from using it. Looking at barriers to participation and use."

Provided by The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. The Intellectual Freedom Blog’s purpose is to educate and encourage discussions about intellectual freedom principles, and promote the value of libraries, librarians, and professional membership in the American Library Association. The blog is managed and edited by staff of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) for use within the library profession and the public to raise awareness of time-sensitive news, issues in the field, upcoming events, helpful resources, and the work of members that is related to intellectual freedom, professional ethics, or the mission of the Office for Intellectual Freedom.