Des Moines, Iowa — House Republicans have unveiled a list of 13 priority bills, including one that forbids classroom instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade.
Another would require schools to notify a parent if a student asks to be identified by a different gender when they’re at school. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the bill specifies that school employees cannot facilitate, encourage or coerce students to withhold that kind of information from parents.
House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says these bills are mean-spirited attacks on LGBTQ teenagers and adults.
Another bill on the House GOP agenda would require schools to provide parents with details about coursework, including what books and other materials will be used. It’s similar to legislation the House passed in 2022.
Thirty-one of the 64 House Republicans have also filed a bill that would require social studies classes in all of Iowa’s public and private schools to teach that communism conflicts with freedom and democracy.
