In a bit of good news on the book-banning front, federal district court judge Stephen H. Locher has issued a preliminary injunction against most parts of an Iowa law whose penalties were to take effect yesterday. The law, signed by Governor Kim Reynolds last May, forbids school libraries and classrooms from carrying books describing or showing a "sex act," with the exception of religious texts like the Bible; prohibits educators from discussing "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" with students from kindergarten through sixth grade; and requires school administrators to notify parents when students ask to change anything relating to their gender identity, such as their names or pronouns. The judge barred the first two provisions, but allowed the parental notification provision to stand.
In connection with section of the law banning books, the judge wrote, "The law is incredibly broad and [in anticipation of the law taking effect] has resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries, including, among others, nonfiction history books, classic works of fiction, Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary novels, books that regularly appear on Advanced Placement exams, and even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault. The sweeping restrictions in [the law] are unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny."
Concerning the ban on discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation, the judge wrote that "those terms are defined a neutral way that makes no distinction between cisgender or transgender identity or gay or straight relationships. Meaning: on its face, the law forbids any programs, promotion, or instruction recognizing that anyone is male or female or in a relationship of any sort (gay or straight). The statute is therefore content-neutral but so wildly overbroad that every school district and elementary school teacher in the State has likely been violating it since the day the school year started."
The judge wrote that he allowed the parental notification part of the law to continue because none of the student plaintiffs, who already use names and pronouns they want, have standing.
Two lawsuits were filed against the law, one by seven students and GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force, supported by the ACLU and Lambda Legal. The other was filed by Penguin Random House, authors Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Malindo Lo, and Jodi Picoult, the Iowa State Education Association, a high school student, her parent, and three educators. The suits charged that the law violates the First Amendment free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
In response to the judge's preliminary injunctions, Dan Novack, v-p, associate general counsel, at PRH, said, "We are extremely gratified by Judge Locher's order barring enforcement of Iowa's law that mandates the removal of books from school and classroom libraries. Our position remains that all viewpoints and perspectives must be made equitably available to readers, and Judge Locher has validated the importance of that with his ruling today. Penguin Random House will continue to stand up for the First Amendment, our authors, their stories and ideas, and the students and educators who have the right to access and discuss books without government interference."
According to the AP, in a statement, Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said, "When education professionals return to work next week, they can do what they do best: take great care of all their students without fear of reprisal."
For her part, Governor Reynolds decried the preliminary injunctions, saying, "Instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has no place in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms. And there should be no question that books containing sexually explicit content--as clearly defined in Iowa law--do not belong in a school library for children. The fact that we're even arguing these issues is ridiculous."