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7 States Forbid LGBTQ-Inclusive Sex-Ed. Arizona Aims to Repeal That Ban.

The lawsuit says the law stigmatizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and is discriminatory.

By Associated Press

Arizona lawmakers were poised Wednesday to begin the process of repealing a 1991 sex education law that forbids instruction that "promotes a homosexual life-style."

The planned action in the state House comes a day after Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich declined to join in defending a lawsuit filed last month by LGBTQ groups against the state's Board of Education and state's top schools official, Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman.

The 1991 law also prohibits HIV and AIDS instruction that "portrays homosexuality as a positive alternative lifestyle" or "suggests that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex."

The lawsuit says the law stigmatizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and is discriminatory.

Republican state Rep. T.J. Shope plans to carry the repeal and calls the 1991 law "antiquated." He said Republicans who hold majorities in both chambers of the Legislature were split, with some critical of Brnovich's decision and others believing as he did that the law was outdated.

Shope will use an existing bill as a vehicle for the repeal, erasing the current language and replacing it with a full repeal of the 1991 law.

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