A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an Iowa law prohibiting schools from discussing “gender identity” and sexual orientation in elementary schools.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher of the Southern District of Iowa, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, also blocked provisions of the law that prohibited the use of sexually explicit books, the Des Moines Register reported.
Locher allowed provisions requiring schools to inform parents when students request the use of different pronouns.
Schools had removed books from libraries following the legislation’s passage, which prompted lawsuits from an LGBT group, the Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House, according to the Register.
“Instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has no place in K-6 classrooms,” Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa posted Friday on X. “Books containing sexually explicit content do not belong in a school library.”
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Parents across the country have raised objections to books with sexually explicit content in recent years, prompting some states to act to remove them from schools.
Schools in Florida pulled multiple books on the grounds of having explicit content, including “Gender Queer,” “Let’s Talk About It” and “It’s Perfectly Normal,” after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed similar legislation.
Parents have also sued school districts in recent years over efforts to socially “transition” children without the parents’ knowledge.
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