Licensed public school teacher Kayla Smiley sued Dr. Katie Jenner in her official capacity as the Indiana Secretary of Education on Friday over a newly passed state law that bans “instruction” on “human sexuality” to students in kindergarten to third grade. The case is in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

The ACLU of Indiana represents Smiley in the case. In response to the lawsuit, ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk stated:

HEA 1608 is written so broadly that it would be next to impossible for teachers to determine what they can and cannot say to students. In addition, teachers have a First Amendment right to express themselves as private citizens outside of the classroom, including in the school’s hallways, playground, or before and after school, but the vagueness of this law would certainly have a chilling effect on those rights.

Smiley’s complaint alleges that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. Specifically, Smiley asserts that the law violates her First Amendment rights because it “impinges on [Smiley’s] ability to speak as a citizen on matters of public interest.” Additionally, Smiley argues that the law violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because key terms of the statute are “impossibly vague and lack any ascertainable standards for determining whether or not the law has been violated.” The complaint seeks a declaration that the law is unconstitutional and an injunction preventing its enforcement.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed HB 1608 into law as Public Law 248 in May. Public Law 248 bans instruction on sexuality in Indiana public schools from kindergarten through third grade. The law does not define “instruction” and “human sexuality.” Smiley alleges that the law is so vague that she is “unable to determine how to conform her behavior to the statute as to not risk losing her license.” Smiley also asserts that she does not know if the books kept in her classroom, which include LGBTQ+ issues, qualify as instruction under the statute.

This is not the only controversial anti-LGBTQ+ legislation recently passed in the US. Last week, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the US due to the steep increase in laws and harassment targeting the LGBTQ+ community. At the time of HRC’s report, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ laws had been introduced in the US in 2023.