There are two bills that have been introduced in the Iowa House regarding gender identity.

One of the bills specifically prohibits lessons on gender identity or sexual orientation in grades kindergarten through third. House District 47 Representative Carter Nordman shares his initial thoughts on this bill.

“I can’t think of a single reason why we need to teach little kids about sexual orientation or about gender identity. What we need to do as an education system is get back to the basics of reading, writing, history, science, and math. The sexual orientation, the gender identity that stuff needs to be discussed at home, not schools.”   

Nordman points out that these issues have come up within school districts in House District 47. However he couldn’t discuss specifics as those conversations took place between parents and the school district. 

Another bill would require a school to notify a parent about their child being transgendered before they can accommodate them. Nordman points out that he doesn’t believe a student’s gender identity should be kept from their parents as these kids are not the government’s to worry about. 

Opponents of the bills believe this is an attack on the LGBTQ+ community and could put the lives of some students at risk if their parents were not aware of them being transgendered. Click the links below to view the full bills.

House File 8: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&ba=HF8

House File 9: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&ba=HF%209