DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa teachers will be prohibited from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students until the sixth grade, and all books depicting sexual acts will be removed from school libraries, according to a law enforcement official. bill signed by Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Friday.
The new law is among similar measures that have been passed in other Republican-dominated states across the country. As with many of those proposals, Iowa Republicans framed their action as a common-sense effort to ensure that parents can monitor what their children are learning in school and that teachers don’t delve into issues like gender and the sexuality.
Despite opposition from all Democratic lawmakers, Republicans who hold large majorities in the Iowa State House and Senate approved the measure in April and there was little doubt that Reynolds would sign it; she had made issues related to gender identity and sexuality a central item on her legislative agenda this year.
“This legislative session, we secured transformative education reform that puts parents in the driver’s seat, removes burdensome regulations on public schools, provides flexibility to increase teacher salaries, and empowers teachers to prepare our children for their future,» Reynolds said in a statement.
Under the new law, school administrators would also be required to notify parents if students asked to change their pronouns or names. Religious texts will be exempt from the library’s ban on books depicting sexual acts.
Democrats and LGBTQ groups argued that the restrictions would harm children by limiting their ability to be open with teachers about issues of gender and sexuality and see their lives reflected in books and other curricula.
The bill’s passage came as no surprise, said Keenan Crow, director of policy and advocacy for LGBTQ equality group One Iowa.
“Like many other pieces of his agenda, this legislation hits a vulnerable group of children and benefits no one,” Crow said of Reynolds.
The law also requires schools to post a list of books in libraries online, along with instructions for parents on how to review them and classroom instructional material, and request that any material be removed. Schools would need parental approval before they can conduct student surveys related to numerous topics, including mental health issues, gender and political affiliation.
Earlier this year, Reynolds signed two bills restrict bathrooms that transgender students can use and ban gender-affirming health care, such as puberty blockers, for people under 18 years of age. Last year Reynolds signed a Republican-backed measure that prohibits transgender women and girls from participating in high school and varsity sports. Like the most recent law, both measures echo bills passed by red states across the country.