- A judge issued a temporary injunction, which blocks two of three provisions in a law passed by the Iowa legislature last year. A provision banning LGBTQ+ books and books with sexual content from public schools, and a provision keeping schools from discussing issues around gender in grades K-6, were blocked. A third provision, requiring schools to report to parents when a child asks to be called by a nickname or expresses questions about gender identity or sexual orientation, will go forward.
- “...Like it or not, sex and sexuality are parts of the teenage experience. refusing to provide adolescents with information about it means they’ll seek out their own information for the internet or from others in ways that are significantly less safe than books reviewed by teachers and librarians,” Iowa student Puck Carlson in November.
- Video shows: Zoom interviews and statements from plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit against the state of Iowa for legislation passed last year.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
We’re working to better understand an issue in Iowa.
A federal judge temporarily blocked parts of a law approved by legislators and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds last year.
In part, it would forbid teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues.
But that's just one of two pieces — blocked.
And what about the third?
The second piece blocked: legislation effectively banning books from public schools that contain sexual content or LGBTQ+ content.
I’m your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel and I'm digging into why some Iowans say the law isn't clear.
Judge Stephan Locher called the law 'incredibly broad' in his decision to issue a temporary injunction. He ruled that two parts of the law cannot be enforced while lawsuits against the state proceed.
Graphic: "The law is incredibly broad and has resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries, including, among others, nonfiction history books, classic works of fiction, pulitzer prize winning contemporary novels, books that regularly appear on advanced placement exams, and even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault." Stephen H. Locher, U.S. District Judge
Puck Carlson — a student who is represented as a plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit challenging the law — spoke on the matter in November, when the lawsuit was first filed.
Carlson: “...Like it or not, sex and sexuality are parts of the teenage experience. refusing to provide adolescents with information about it means they’ll seek out their own information for the internet or from others in ways that are significantly less safe than books reviewed by teachers and librarians.”
Thomas Story is a staff attorney for the ACLU of Iowa. He spoke after a federal hearing in December.
“There have been cases of removals of 5,10, so on, books or films or things from school, never before have there been a circumstance where the state has mandated the removal of 500 books — thousands of copies — from schools, so it is unique in that respect…”
The Iowa Association of School Librarians and the Iowa Library Association are asking the Department of Education for better guidelines, saying they still have unanswered questions.
Graphic: "We are keen for additional clarity which will take shape through community process as we watch the lawsuits unfold. The Iowa Association of School Librarians and Iowa Library Association issued a joint letter of inquiry to the Department of Education for the third time at the end of November seeking clarity on unanswered questions that new guidelines did not satisfy." IASL/ILA
Author and speaker, Ryan Sallans, transitioned from female to male almost 20 years ago. He spoke from his hometown of Aurora, Nebraska about the importance of teens seeing themselves in literature.
Sallans: “It means allowing them that space to be in a place of privacy with words that resonate with them. And make them feel not so alone and not so scared.”
Reporting by the Des Moines Register shows hundreds of books have been removed from shelves in Iowa public schools including work by authors such as Maya Angelou, John Green and Nobel-prize winner, Toni Morrison.
A third provision in the law was not blocked. It requires schools to report to parents when a child asks to be called by a different name or expresses questions about their sexual orientation or gender identity.
We'll continue to follow this case as it develops. I’m your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel.
