Judge blocks parts of Iowa ban on books, discussions of LGBTQ+ issues in schools

by Tara Suter - 12/29/23 8:22 PM ET

FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. The nationwide surge in book bannings continues. The American Library Association reported Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, that challenges to books in schools and public libraries will likely reach record highs in 2023, topping what had been a record pace in 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) — FILE – Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. The nationwide surge in book bannings continues. The American Library Association reported Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, that challenges to books in schools and public libraries will likely reach record highs in 2023, topping what had been a record pace in 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

A federal judge blocked parts of an Iowa law banning almost any books depicting sexual activity in school libraries and limiting discussions in state schools about LGBTQ+ identities Friday.

District Judge Stephen Locher blocked two parts of the law, Senate File 496 — one focused on books and the depiction or description of sexual activity being removed in Iowa public school libraries, and another focused on forbidding “programs, promotion and instruction” to sixth graders or below “relating to ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’” by teachers and school districts.

“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,” Locher said in the ruling.

The Friday decision came after two lawsuits by two separate groups were filed within a few days of each other last month. One of the lawsuits was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa and Lambda Legal on behalf of Iowa Safe Schools, a nonprofit organization supporting LGBTQ+ and allied youths, and seven Iowa students and their families. The other was filed by the publisher Penguin Random House and four bestselling authors, alongside parents, educators and the Iowa State Education Administration.

Locher, however, did not block a part of the law in which school districts would have to notify parents if their child asks to use different pronouns than those in school registration records “or otherwise seeks an accommodation relating to gender identity.” He said only plaintiffs in the Iowa Safe Schools case challenged that part of the law.

“They are all already ‘out’ to their families and therefore not affected in a concrete way by this requirement,” Locher said.

Tags ACLU book ban Iowa Iowa Lambda Legal Senate File 496