The Sex Equity in Education Act states the policy of the state that elementary and secondary school classes and courses, including nonacademic and elective classes and courses, be conducted without regard to the sex of the pupil enrolled in these classes or courses. Under existing law, the sex discrimination provisions of the act do not apply to any program or activity of the American Legion undertaken in connection with the organization or operation of any Boys State conference, Boys Nation conference, Girls State conference, or Girls Nation conference, or to any program or activity of any secondary educational institution specifically for the promotion of any of those conferences or for the selection of pupils to attend those conferences if the conferences comply with other nondiscriminatory provisions of state and federal law.
This bill,
commencing January 1, 2023, would exempt from the act’s sex discrimination provisions, and other specified provisions, any gender-segregated programs or activities of the American Legion or the American Legion Auxiliary related to their respective yearly Girls State and Boys State conferences and any promotion of, or selection of pupils for, any of those conferences by secondary educational institutions if the conferences comply with certain conditions, including providing substantially similar access to government officials and facilities, providing substantially similar programming, except as specified, providing an equal number of participation opportunities, and, for pupils who do not identify as either male or female, or with their assigned birth gender, allowing those pupils to participate in either conference.