LEWIS CENTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- A top civil liberties group says a central Ohio school district's anti-bullying policies protecting LGBTQ+ students "overstep by regulating speech." The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed an amicus brief in December into a 2023 lawsuit by Parents Defending Education that claims Olentangy Local School District violated First Amendment rights by barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Parents Defending Education cited the district's policy against misgendering, the act of referring to another person by using pronouns that do not align with their gender identity. 29 new laws are on their way in Ohio, here are 10 of them In the brief, the ACLU argues that "neither the school nor the parent group got things entirely right," and said it agrees that the district cannot categorically ban or punish all instances of a student using a classmate's non-preferred pronouns. However, as a group committed to protecting LGBTQ students, the ACLU said some instances of misgendering are not immune from school discipline when they cause a disruption or create a hostile environment.  "Schools can prohibit student speech that creates a hostile educational environment. The district's policies overstep by regulating speech regardless of whether it is harassment or not and whether it will disrupt school, violating all students' constitutionally protected right to free speech," said Amy Gilbert, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Ohio. Parents Defending Education filed the complaint against the district in May of 2023, which was initially rejected by a U.S. district court in August of that year. Watch a previous NBC4 report on the court's 2023 ruling in the video player above. The group then appealed to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where a three-judge panel also rejected the suit in August of 2024 and said Parents Defending Education hadn't convincingly argued that the policies should be blocked, and noted students who don't want to use their classmates' preferred pronouns may refer to them using first names. Ohio universities to pay student-athletes under this Statehouse-approved bill At the time, a spokesperson for Olentangy schools celebrated the court's decision and affirmed that the district is "committed to facilitating maximum learning for every student." "The district's policies on harassment and bullying prohibit the intentional and repeated targeting of another student when it causes an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment," Olentangy schools said. "We are pleased that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirmed the constitutionality of our policies, and we remain committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all of our students." Shortly after, Parents Defending Education was joined by 22 state attorneys general, including Ohio's Dave Yost, in asking the Sixth Circuit to rehear the case. The Sixth Circuit then decided in early November it would revisit the suit with all 16 active judges on the court, and is set to hear arguments in March of this year. "This policy clearly is ideologically driven and forces students who don't share in these beliefs to surrender their First Amendment rights at the door," wrote West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. "The First Amendment does not allow school officials to coerce students into expressing messages inconsistent with the students' values." How Ohio marijuana laws could change in 2025 Now, the ACLU is urging the Sixth Circuit to reverse the district court's original decision, and encouraging Olentangy schools to instead adopt policies that protect student speech while retaining the ability to punish speech that "crosses the line into harassment that creates a hostile educational environment, or speech that causes a substantial disruption to the school setting." The ACLU's brief came as an Ohio school district reached a $450,000 settlement in December with a middle school teacher who resigned for refusing to address two trans students by their preferred names and pronouns. The agreement followed a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in August that said forcing the teacher to use students' preferred names amounts to "compelled speech" and that the school's "pronoun practice was not neutral."