Amicus Brief: Defending Education v. Sullivan

Defending Education, Do No Harm, and a collection of Colorado-based groups and doctors are challenging Colorado's new ban on misgendering, “deadnaming,” and other speech offenses in public accommodations (businesses and other places that hold themselves open to the public). ADF filed two similar lawsuits on behalf of a Christian bookstore and an athletics apparel company. The federal district court denied preliminary injunctions in all three cases, which are now on appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

This is Colorado's latest attempt to censor dissenting speech on sex and gender issues, after Masterpiece Cakeshop, 303 Creative, Chiles, etc. The Manhattan Institute has teamed with the Independent Women’s Law Center and Burke Law Group on a brief arguing that forcing adherence to gender ideology violates the First Amendment and that Colorado’s law harms the interests of women and girls.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.