A federal judge in Virginia has ruled against a Trump administration policy that banned LGBTQ books and lessons from schools serving military families, stating the policy likely violated students’ First Amendment rights. E.K. v. Department of Defense Education Activity presented a challenge from the families of twelve students who argued that three executive orders by Trump banning content that discussed what he called “gender ideology” and “divisive equity concepts.”
The Department of Defense argued that the school libraries were not subject to First Amendment protections due to the legal concept of “government speech”, a doctrine that shields government communication from compliance with the First Amendment. ACLU Spokesperson Emerson Sykes issued a statement after the ruling, saying:
“This is an important victory for students in DoDEA schools and anyone who values full libraries and vibrant classrooms. The censorship taking place in DoDEA schools as a result of these executive orders was astonishing in its scope and scale, and we couldn’t be more pleased that the court has vindicated the First Amendment rights of the students this has impacted.”
