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One Iowa reacts to Governor’s signing of discriminatory education policies

Reyes

On May 26, Governor Kim Reynolds signed her discriminatory education bill, SF 496, into law. The bill contains measures that restrict information about sexual orientation and gender identity for grades K-6, forcibly outs transgender students, removes information about HIV and HPV from the curricula, and restricts books and materials with any kind of sexual content.

One Iowa Executive Director, Courtney Reyes, condemned the bill in a statement:

“While we are not surprised that the Governor signed her signature bill containing multiple provisions intended to directly discriminate against LGBTQ students, we are still extremely disappointed. Like many other centerpieces of the Governor’s agenda, this legislation will harm an already vulnerable group of children and will benefit no one. The Governor constantly cites the film Field Of Dreams but maybe she needs to rewatch it. The people banning books in that movie are the villains not the heroes.”

“I am surprised by the Governor’s cowardice of signing this bill and the other two explicitly anti-trans bills behind closed doors. She is not willing to look trans kids in the eyes and tell them that she does not want them in our state. Governor Reynold’s has made it clear that she is willing to run on an anti-LGBTQ platform to win votes, but is not willing to give the people that she works for the time of day.”

“The Governor still has a chance to reduce the harm her agenda is causing with two of the bills now on her desk. She needs to line-item veto Division V from HF 731 so that our universities can continue their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts unimpeded from state legislators. And she needs to sign HF 602 to add the suicide hotline to student ID cards. This measure is needed now more than ever as we monitor increasing levels of distress and self harm associated with her anti-LGBTQ legislative proposals.”

One Iowa Action is a 501(c)(4) organization working to preserve and advance the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) Iowans through grassroots efforts, voter education and advocacy.