LGBTQ topics would be banned from middle school and high school curriculum under a bill advancing in the Iowa House that seeks to expand a law that currently applies to Kindergarten through sixth grade.
Republican legislators passed a law in 2023 that bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation before seventh grade. That law is being challenged in federal court. The bill advanced Wednesday by Republicans on a House subcommittee would extend that prohibition through high school.
The bill says, “A school district shall not provide any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through grade twelve.”
The administrative rules for implementing the existing law say “a neutral statement regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” will not be considered a violation.
Jemma Bullock, executive director of the Iowa Queer Student Alliance and a student at Iowa State University, said lawmakers are supposed to be protecting all students, and bills like this do the opposite.
"It does not stop LGBTQ+ students from being queer. What it does do is harm students."Jemma Bullock, executive director of the Iowa Queer Student Alliance
“And it does not stop LGBTQ+ students from being queer,” Bullock said. “What it does do is harm students. It causes mental health to decline and endangers more students’ lives.”
Chuck Hurley with the Christian conservative organization, The Family Leader, supports the bill and pushed back on that.
“If this bill passes, bullying is still punishable in the schools,” he said. “We remove a divisive topic from the schools, and we put it back where it should be, with parents and families and friends.”
Hurley also said teaching that people can transition to a different gender is teaching a lie.
Bethany Snyder of Urbandale said the bill means her own child would be denied information about their family, sending a message that they don’t belong.
“As a lesbian mom, I know firsthand how damaging that message is,” she said. “We both grew up in a time when LGBTQ people were erased, when we didn’t see families like our own in our schools and communities. We know the shame and isolation that comes from silence, and we refuse to let our child, or any child in Iowa, experience that.”
"By keeping discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation out of the classroom, we protect students from age inappropriate material and ensure that education remains free from ideological influence."Amber Williams, Inspired Life lobbyist
Amber Williams, a lobbyist for Inspired Life, said schools should be focused on core academic subjects.
“By keeping discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation out of the classroom, we protect students from age inappropriate material and ensure that education remains free from ideological influence,” she said. “Teachers should not be burdened with these sensitive discussions, and students should not be subjected to concepts that may conflict with their family’s values.”
Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, and Rep. Henry Stone, R-Forest City, advanced the bill to the full House Education Committee.
Wheeler said parents are frequently bringing him examples of things in schools that he said are “absurd,” including rainbow flags that he said are larger than the American or Iowa flag.
“I’m tired of having parents bring lesson plans to me where it’s clearly pushing an agenda,” he said. “I am sick of it, and I know Iowans are sick of it. That’s why we are sitting in a supermajority.”
Wheeler said discussions of LGBTQ topics are a distraction, and schools should get back to the basics in education.
Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said the bill would prevent teaching about things like the HIV/AIDS crisis, the Stonewall riots and gay people who were targeted during the Holocaust.
“This bill prevents teachers from teaching truth,” she said. “It also prevents teachers from having a realistic, holistic and caring relationship with their students and their classrooms.”
