SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of gay rights advocacy groups said Thursday a judge should halt Utah state laws that discriminate against LGBT students by restricting talk about homosexuality in schools.

The laws create a ‘‘chilling culture of silence that stigmatizes LGBTQ students,’’ Equality Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights said in a news release a day after seeking a preliminary injunction against the laws. The move followed the filing of a lawsuit in October.

‘‘Its only purpose is to express the state’s moral disapproval of ‘homosexuality’ and codify the views of those within the community who harbor such disapproval,’’ lawyers wrote in the legal filing.

The State of Utah has denied it has antigay school laws, saying the case quotes selectively from state law and school rules. Utah officials say the state school board is immune from the lawsuit and asked for the case to be dismissed.

Utah State Board of Education spokesman Mark Peterson said the board had no comment on the request for the injunction because it has not seen the filing. He referred questions to the state attorney general’s office, where spokesman Dan Burton said the case is being reviewed and a response will be filed next month.

Several states have similar laws.

The Utah laws include a provision that prohibits instruction on ‘‘advocacy of homosexuality,’’ contraceptives, and sex outside marriage.

The provision was part of a wide-ranging sexual education bill passed with little dissent in 2001. The Utah State Board of Education adopted a similar rule a year earlier that applies to any class that covers marriage, childbirth, or parenthood.

Supporters say the laws targeted in the lawsuit bar talk in school about any kind of sex, and the court case could result in wholesale changes to teaching other topics such as abstinence before marriage.

Democratic state legislator Brian King introduced legislation Thursday to strike the language in state law that bans ‘‘advocacy of homosexuality.’’