Judge snips Iowa ban on LGBTQ instruction in K-6 classrooms

DES MOINES, Iowa (CN) — A federal judge ruled that Iowa’s ban on LGBTQ instruction for K-6 students is constitutional, though school districts may still instruct kids on the general concepts of sexuality and gender.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, a Joe Biden appointee, upheld the constitutionality of provisions of the law barring classroom instruction that focus mandatory lessons or instruction for students in grade six or below that include detailed explanations or normative views on “gender identity” or “sexual orientation.” The ruling was issued Thursday evening.

But the judge said lessons or instruction may be used for students in grade six or below that contain neutral references to gender identity (whether cisgender or transgender) or sexual orientation (whether gay or straight).

The judge said the statute’s provision that prohibits schools from making extracurricular activities relating to gender identity and sexual orientation available to students violates students’ First Amendment rights.

The judge also declared unconstitutionally vague the statute’s requirement that school officials notify parents if a student requests an “accommodation that is intended to affirm the student’s gender identity,” but he said state officials and school districts may enforce the parental notice requirement if a student asks for an accommodation in the form of a different pronoun to be used to identify that student.

Damian J. Thompson, interim executive director of Iowa Safe Schools and lead plaintiff in the case, praised the ruling in a statement Friday. “With this decision, parents, educators, and students have finally been granted the desperately needed clarity they’ve sought for nearly two years. Iowa Safe Schools is optimistic that next school year will be less constrained by state censorship and legislative overreach.”

Spokespersons for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Bird did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate provision of Iowa’s statute, which also bans sexually explicit books with LGBTQ+ themes from school libraries, was blocked by Locher in 2023. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit subsequently reversed Locher’s preliminary injunction and remanded the case for further consideration of the preliminary injunction standard.

Locher has since cleaved the case into two parts — the books-ban provision and the LGBTQ+ instruction ban provision — and, on March 25, reinstated his injunction against enforcement of the books ban, which he said is facially unconstitutional.

The dispute in both issues stems from two lawsuits challenging Senate File 496, which Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law in 2023: one filed by book publishers, including Penguin Random House, along with author Jodi Picoult; the other brought by Iowa Safe Schools, a group advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.

Plaintiffs representing the rights of LGBTQ+ students argued in a brief in support of their renewed motion for a preliminary injunction that Iowa’s law forbidding any mention of sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through the sixth grade, in or outside of the classroom, is unconstitutional.

“SF 496 has altered the landscape for Iowa schools and students through its unconstitutional and discriminatory provisions,” the student advocates say in their brief. The bill’s “intent, purpose, and effect, is designed to and is accomplishing the silencing and marginalization of students, particularly LGBTQ+ students.”

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