A new Florida law restricting teachers’ use of pronouns and titles in public schools amounts to sex discrimination and violates the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws, a federal lawsuit filed by three Florida educators alleges. 

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 in the Northern District of Florida by Katie Wood, who works in the Hillsborough County School District, and two other plaintiffs. They say a section of the new law, which bars school employees from telling students that they use pronouns which don’t reflect their sex at birth, illegally prevents transgender and nonbinary teachers from expressing who they are.

The term “nonbinary” refers to people who don’t identify fully with either sex.