Iowa schools cannot teach K-6 students about gender identity and sexual orientation, but young students can’t be prohibited from engaging in voluntary activities related to the topics or shielded from materials directed at others, a Biden-appointed federal judge ruled on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher’s split decision stems from a law Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed in 2023 that banned educators from broaching the topics of gender identity and sexual orientation with students through sixth grade.
The law, part of a wave of efforts among GOP-dominated legislatures to curtail LGBTQ education and student activities, bans Iowa school districts from offering “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through grade six.”
Locher agreed with the state that mandatory instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity can be prohibited because it is not discriminatory to information about LGBTQ issues, but he struck down the references to “programs” and “promotion,” saying they were overly broad.
Locher cited in his ruling that the law has prompted some school districts to remove visual representations of LGBTQ support, including pride flags and safe space stickers in high schools because younger students could see the symbols during community events; prohibit students from hanging signs on their lockers promoting LGBTQ-friendly groups because fifth and sixth graders could see them while passing through the hallways; and tell teachers in same-sex relationships not to mention their partners within earshot of students; among other concerns.
“Under this plain meaning interpretation, the restrictions on ‘programs’ and ‘promotion’
run into constitutional problems under the First Amendment,” he wrote.
He also noted what he deemed the “absurdity problem” of banning “programs” related to gender identity, hypothetically offering it “would mean the law bans ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ sports teams and any other classroom or extracurricular activity that recognizes and endorses gender identity.”
In a March ruling, Locher blocked a separate component of the same Iowa law that prohibits school libraries from carrying books that depict sex acts. The state is challenging that decision.
Reynolds’s office and a spokesperson for Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s requests for comment.
