Several Iowa House Republicans have introduced a bill that would require teachers to tell parents of their LGBT students about their child’s sexuality.
The bill, House File 9, aims to prohibit schools and teachers from withholding information or giving false information to “the parent or guardian of a student regarding the student’s gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that is different than the sex listed on a student’s official birth certificate.”
Teachers would also be prohibited from “encouraging, pressuring, or coercing” a student’s parent or guardian into allowing their child to undergo medical procedures or treatment related to gender identity if the student identifies with a sex different than that on their birth certificate, per the bill.
Speaker Pat Grassley (R), son of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), is included as one of the bill’s sponsors, which was presented on Wednesday morning. House File 8, which seeks to prohibit instruction on topics such as sexual orientation or gender identity in schools for children in kindergarten through third grade, was also introduced on Wednesday.
IOWA SCHOOL DISTRICT SUED BY PARENT GROUP OVER SECRECY IN GENDER TRANSITION POLICY
The House bills are the latest effort from Republican politicians in Iowa cracking down on LGBT culture and gender identity in schools. In April 2022, the Linn-Mar school district approved a policy that affirms teachers would respect students’ genders and identities in school, allowing them to go by their preferred pronouns and names.
In August 2022, a parent activist organization filed a lawsuit against the district for facilitating gender transitions for students without notifying or gaining approval from parents, asking a judge to block the policy. A judge denied it in mid-September.
Other Republican-dominant states are enacting similar lawsuits and policies. In January 2022, parents in a Florida school district sued the district for its efforts to facilitate their daughter’s transition to a man. According to the lawsuit, the parents did not know of their child’s male identity until the student attempted to kill themselves on school grounds for the second time.
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Iowa Safe Schools, an organization seeking to provide safe and supportive environments for LGBT students, released a statement on Wednesday denouncing the House GOP members’ bills.
“It only took the Iowa Legislature three days to release an unrelenting attack on LGBTQ youth,” Iowa Safe Schools Executive Director Becky Tayler said in a statement via Iowa News Now. “HF 9 will put LGBTQ youth directly in harm’s way and create a legal and administrative nightmare for school administrators. HF 8 is ultimately a form of big government censorship intended to create a hostile school climate for LGBTQ students.“
The Washington Examiner reached out to Iowa Safe Schools and Iowa House GOP for comment.
