MSCA v. State (previously EmpowerMT v. State)

In April 2024, we filed a lawsuit against the State and its Educational Agencies challenging Senate Bill 99 (“SB 99”). In May 2025, House Bill 471 (“HB 471”) was enacted, which effectively superseded SB 99. In October 2025, we filed Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint on behalf of students, educators, and the Montana School Counselors Association to reflect the bills’ impacts on Montana’s K-12 public school students, educators, and staff. The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU of Montana, Nixon Peabody, LLP, and Kasting, Kauffman & Mersen, P.C..

Both bills require public school professionals to provide parental notification prior to any discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in the classroom, but HB 471 features a more restrictive parental notification window that must occur 5-14 days prior to human sexuality and gender identity instruction, as opposed to SB 99’s mandated 48-hour window. HB 471 also created a new category of instruction, referred to as “identity instruction,” which includes topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Under HB 471, a student will not receive “identity instruction,” unless their parent opts them into such instruction.

While the bills are clearly intended to target, and disproportionately impact, 2S-LGBTQIA+ individuals, they are also unconstitutionally vague. The bills’ language could apply to books like The Great Gatsby and Romeo and Juliet, as discussing either requires acknowledging the existence of heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships. By implicitly threatening to punish only those educators, counselors, and
administrators who seek to introduce curricula that highlight inclusivity and compassion to their students, the law is harming the general student population and 2S-LGBTQIA+ students who continue to face increased stigma, bullying, and marginalization.

In this lawsuit, Plaintiffs assert that SB 99 and HB 471 violate numerous provisions of the Montana Constitution, including the right to due process of law, free speech, privacy, and educational opportunity. The bills are emblematic of a wave of anti-2S-LGBTQIA+ laws that have proliferated nationwide and across Montana. Many of those laws are the subjects of legal actions like this one. Plaintiffs are seeking a declaration from the District Court that SB 99 and HB 471 are unconstitutional, as well as a permanent injunction preventing the bills’ enforcement.