The state of Iowa recently appealed a federal judge’s injunction to partially block enforcement of a state law, which would ban books depicting sex acts from public schools. In 2023, a judge blocked the new law that Governor Kim Reynolds’ signed banning such books in libraries and classrooms, with the goal of preventing teachers from bringing up gender identity or sexual orientation issues. 

Iowa Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott previously talked with Governor Reynolds warning her that the bill would be challenged in court, and believed that it was poorly written because it was vague. Senator Trone-Garriott says that lawmakers should be spending time on other areas that need to be addressed immediately.

“We need to focus on the people in our community, keeping them safe, keeping them healthy. This is a waste of our taxpayer resources, and is already pretty clear that it was a real bad idea. We have protections in place. We have processes in place. We can always improve those. Let’s talk about that rather than these big, confusing pieces of legislation that get everybody all riled up.”

Senator Trone-Garriott identifies some other concerns in the initial bill claiming that it was hard to implement and that there wasn’t any guidance given to schools.