Supreme Court overturns municipal law prohibiting schools from teaching gender
The 11 court justices ruled that the law in Goiás that banned material on gender in the municipal education system is unconstitutional
O relator do caso, ministro Alexandre de Moraes, durante plenário virtual no STF (Foto: Fellipe Sampaio /SCO/STF)
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, April 24, to overturn a law in the state of Goiás that banned municipal schools from teaching gender. Enacted in 2015, Municipal Law No. 1,516 of Novo Gama (in the state of Goiás) prohibited the distribution of teaching material referencing so-called “gender ideology” at schools in
the municipal educational network.
The rapporteur of the case, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accepted a request by the Office of the Prosecutor General that claimed that the municipal law violates the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government to legislate on national education guidelines.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the law also infringes on constitutional provisions and principles such as the right to equality, the ban on censorship in cultural activities, the secular nature of the State and the right to freedom to learn, teach, research and express thought, art and knowledge.
All the other justices voted in line with the rapporteur. Justice Edson Fachin, however, presented a separate vote, agreeing with the rapporteur with reservations.
Rodrigo Dornelles, a lawyer for Conectas on the case, highlighted the importance of the decision: “This is the first time that a full session of the Supreme Court has ruled on the topic. There have already been a series of injunctions on the matter, but now we have a unanimous ruling, which reaffirms that the Supreme Court is aligned with
freedom of expression and academic freedom.”
The case started to be heard on April 17 and was concluded a week later, in a virtual session of the court. This is one of fifteen cases challenging laws based on proposals of the Non-Partisan School movement.
Civil society
Before the vote, civil society organizations had sent the Supreme Court a statement asking the justices to find the attempt by the municipality to ban schools from teaching gender unconstitutional.
In the statement, the organizations pointed out that the law “conflicts with key democratic values”, since it “violates freedom of expression and academic freedom; the pluralism of ideas and pedagogical concepts in the educational process; the right to a full education for children and young people; the autonomy of children and adolescents; gender equality; and the secular nature of the State”, among other fundamental guarantees.
