For second time, judge dismisses a challenge to Florida education law

For the second time in less than a year, a Central Florida federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a 2022 state law that restricts instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger on Wednesday issued a 37-page ruling rejecting a lawsuit filed by parents, students and a non-profit group against members of the State Board of Education and the school boards in Orange, Indian River, Duval and Palm Beach counties.

Berger dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in October, though she allowed the plaintiffs to file a revised version. Berger’s ruling Wednesday included a series of issues, including her conclusion that most of the plaintiffs had not shown legal standing.

In February, Tallahassee-based U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor dismissed a separate lawsuit challenging the controversial law. Plaintiffs appealed that ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The 2022 law, which has drawn national attention, prevented instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and required that such instruction be “age-appropriate … in accordance with state academic standards” in older grades. Supporters called the measure the “Parental Rights in Education” law — while opponents labeled it the “don’t say gay” bill.

The Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis went further this year by approving a bill to broaden the prohibition on instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Plaintiffs in the Central Florida case are Orange County residents Jennifer and Matthew Cousins and their four children, including a student who is gender non-binary; Will Larkins, who was a senior last year at Orange County’s Winter Park High School and president of the school’s Queer Student Union; a married same-sex Indian River County couple, David Dinan and Vik Gongidi, who have two children in public schools; and the non-profit CenterLink, Inc., which has members including LGTBQ community centers in Orange, Duval and Palm Beach counties.