“This is a significant win for Oklahoma and affirms a simple principle: every Oklahoma student deserves to be treated as an individual, not defined or divided by race or sex,” Drummond said. “Oklahoma teachers do important work every day, and the court has given them clarity to keep doing it well.” 

HB 1775 prohibits public school employees in K-12 schools from teaching, or requiring teachers to teach, eight discriminatory concepts as correct, including that one race or sex is inherently superior to another, that an individual's moral character is determined by race or sex or that a person bears responsibility for actions taken by others of the same race or sex in the past. 

Since June 2024, a district court order barred the State from enforcing key parts of the law, including two of the prohibited concepts while the underlying lawsuit continued. The Tenth Circuit ruled that order was wrong and lifted it entirely, meaning the State can now enforce every part of HB 1775. 

The court found the law's plain language gives teachers clear direction on what's prohibited: they can teach about events like the Tulsa Race Massacre, historical figures' beliefs and current policy debates but may not instruct students that any of the eight prohibited concepts is true.  

HB 1775 is one of more than a dozen state laws modeled after a 2020 executive order barring race and sex stereotyping in federal workplaces. Oklahoma is now the first state in the country to have such a law upheld by a federal appellate court. The case now returns to the district court for further proceedings as the underlying lawsuit continues. 

Read the opinion.