Seven Iowa families filed a lawsuit in federal court today, challenging Iowa’s SF 496, a wide-ranging bill that has led to book bans and prohibits providing materials with LGBTQ content or characters, among other issues. The bill was signed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in May 2023. The litigants are being represented by the ACLU of Iowa, Lambda Legal and the law firm of Jenner & Block, which has offices in Chicago, Washington DC, New York City and London. They held a press conference via Zoom with members of Lambda Legal and the ACLU to discuss the lawsuit.

“Schools should be safe havens that protect all students including LGBTQ plus students so that they can learn and thrive in an affirming environment,” said Nathan Maxwell, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal. “This law erases and silences LGBTQ students and their families from classrooms, books and history. It sends the message that LGBTQ kids are too shameful to be acknowledged and it endangers not only their mental health but also their physical safety and well-being.”

Maxwell said the law is already causing problems in Iowa. He said some schools have started removing LGBTQ+ associated images from their campuses, including rainbow flags and safe space stickers.

“SF 496 is already causing harm to Iowa students and families. Some schools have begun removing any LGBTQ-associated imagery from their campuses; items like rainbow flags or safe space stickers are now gone from hallways,” said Maxwell. “LGBTQ students are being bullied and harassed because of the law and some have been told that they should expect it to continue. Books with any reference to LGBTQ themes or characters or that are written by LGBTQ authors are being pulled from classrooms and bookshelves. Schools are even disbanding long standing student-based groups like gender sexuality alliances, removing one of the very few explicitly welcoming and affirming spaces on campus for LGBTQ students. Some students have changed the way they dress or even how they participate in classroom discussions because they are afraid that they might say something that will get themselves or their teachers in trouble. The law is intended to tell LGBTQ students and their families that they are not welcome and that LGBTQ students are themselves inappropriate in their very existence. The law is already achieving its goal of erasing LGBTQ students in Iowa, but inclusive school environments benefit all young people, not just LGBTQ students. We’re challenging this law because LGBTQ students are equal members of their communities and they deserve a safe space to go learn.”

“Our students deserve better than government censorship of important books, instruction and classroom discussion that teach them about the world around them and reflect their own lives and experiences,” said Becky Tayler, executive director of Iowa State Schools. “This is not the 1950s; students should be able to learn about diverse topics and life experiences. Students are entitled to access fact-based information that enables them to lead healthy lives, to learn about the history of the LGBTQ rights movement and the countless important figures in history who were LGBTQ. Teachers and librarians should be making these decisions as they always have, not politicians seeking to score cheap political points at the expense of students. Students also deserve better than being forcibly outed. When a student feels more safe confiding in a teacher or counselor about their gender identity or sexual orientation than a parent, there’s a reason for that. Nearly one third of LGBTQ youth report facing homelessness or housing instability due to mistreatment related to their LGBTQ identity.”

Students who filed the suit spoke about the impact of SF496 on their lives during the press conference. Because the students are minors, Our Quad Cities News is using initials and not names for both students and parents. “Reading has always been a fundamental part of how I learned to understand the world around me,” said ‘PC.’ “Every student should have the right to do the same, to be able to learn about people’s cultures and perspectives and to be able to learn about all of the world around them not just parts of it. Furthermore, every student should see themselves in their libraries, so they not only understand the world around them but also that they belong in it. Like it or not, sex and sexuality are parts of the teenage experience (and) refusing to provide adolescents with information about it means they’ll seek out their own information from the internet or from others in ways that are significantly less safe than books reviewed by teachers and librarians. Removing books that discuss queer topics or people from schools tells our queer students that they do not belong there, that they are shameful. I am not shameful.”

‘PC’ has concerns about the impact of the law on a sibling. “I have an LGBTQ little sister who I love more than anything in the world and she is not shameful. She deserves to be herself and to know that she belongs. When I was in 7th grade I read ‘Melissa’ by Alex Gino. It was the first time I had read about a trans kid. While that might not seem like a lot, being able to find and identify yourself with things is a fundamental part of being a child. School is one of the main places that children need and being able to access literature in which you can see yourself is instrumental to a student’s discovery of themselves. Removing these books not only makes queer people less visible but it also stops students from discovering and being true to themselves. This law is not just about what the children are learning, it’s about safety. When my nine-year-old sister sees a rainbow in a classroom, it shows her that she is safe there. It says that room contains people who will not harass or harm her for something that she cannot change. 496 hasn’t been easy for my little sister; I see how she’s more and more worried about going to school how she conceals herself instead of taking pride and who she is. No longer can she tell if someone is safe because they aren’t allowed to advertise that and that means she has to treat everyone as unsafe by default. It is heartbreaking to watch her be made to feel alone and less than at school.

‘PB’ is another student litigant who said the new law is causing stress for students. “I have experienced harassment in school because of my transgender identity but SF 496 and its provisions to shut down open healthy discussion of LGBTQ issues and its silencing of students like me make me fear for my happiness and safety more than ever. I’m scared of being harassed if I wear Pride apparel or if I talk about my identity in class. This fear, which is shared by many of my transgender friends, is why I have chosen to be a plaintiff in this case.” ‘PB’ shared a frightening experience early in his high school career. “During my freshman year, while I was performing in a play, a student in the crowd threatened to kill me. I believe the student knew me because of a protest I had staged earlier that year at my high school. Now, after SF 496 and the climate it has created to shame and invite violence against transgender people, I would be terrified of organizing another protest. Transgender youth should not have to live in fear at their schools. We should not have to take unnecessary steps to gain the respect of being called by the correct name and pronouns that no cisgender kid ever has to ask for. It is blatant discrimination and should not be permitted to continue.

‘PB’s parent also shared concerns at the press conference. “Prior to the passage of SF 496, school already presented difficulties for him that are not faced by such gender straight children,” said ‘BS’. “We struggled for years and continued to struggle with him being misgendered, bullied and called the wrong name. We even received death threats posted to social media and shouted at school functions, with no action taken by the school. I send my child to school every day knowing there are many individuals who, given the opportunity, would harm my child simply because he exists as his authentic self. This law only serves to make life more perilous for him and more terrifying for me. This law claims to protect parental rights, but it does the opposite. Instead of sending my child to school and assuming he will be safe as every parent of a cisgendered straight child does, I spend my days worrying about what potential damage this school day might do to my child’s physical or mental well-being.”

Another student, also with the initials ‘BS,’ knew early on they were part of the LGBTQ+ community. “I’ve known since I was in 3rd grade that I’m a part of the LGBTQIA plus community. In 6th grade, I first changed my name and started using the ‘them’ pronouns because I knew I wasn’t a boy or a girl. I’m just a person. I’m participating in this lawsuit because this law hurts all kinds of kids and it hurts many of my personal friends. We deserve to be able to express ourselves safely at school and we deserve to see ourselves in media, especially in books. This law is trying to shut us down and make us be quiet and not openly discuss our lives, who we like or who we truly are. I know what it’s like to be bullied and harassed because of being LGBTQ+. I wish my school would actually prevent bullying before it happens not just tell kids that it’s wrong after the fact. But because of this law, I feel like the school is too worried about getting in trouble with this state if they try to speak out. This law gets in the way of educators trying to make a safer more inclusive space for all students.”

‘BS’s parent is concerned for them in light of the new law. “The impact on this law of this law on our gender fluid child is heartbreaking. Our child has the right to be safe at school. They deserve to be in a supportive environment that lets them learn and thrive, but this bill is paralyzing teachers and administrators. It’s blocking them from preventing bullying and harassment and also from responding effectively after it happens by chilling their speech and ability to teach about how to respect others.” The law hit home recently. “In September, (BS) wore a T-shirt with a rainbow on it and had a pride flag around their shoulders for culture day at school representing their pride in their queer culture. (BS) was harassed about it. A group of students tried to grab the flag and then later a student yelled hateful words across recess at (BS). This law singles out our LGBTQ kids, it makes them unsafe at school and it sends the message that there’s something wrong with them.”

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds released a statement regarding the lawsuit. “Protecting children from pornography and sexually explicit content shouldn’t be controversial. The real controversary is that it exists in elementary schools. Books with graphic depictions of sex acts have absolutely no place in our schools. If these books were movies, they’d be rated R. The media cannot even air or print excerpts from these books because the content is offensive and inappropriate, yet they promote the narrative that they’re good for kids.”