Two bills highlighted by Iowa’s LGBTQ+ activist leaders for how they handle drag and “obscenity” will be heard by legislative subcommittees this week, each facing the first of six steps they’d need to pass in order to become law.
Monday at 11:30 a.m., HF 274 that would eliminate an obscenity protection for libraries and educational institutions will be taken up by a House subcommittee. The bill would trigger “a shift in the legal framework governing obscenity” and could potentially “impact how educational institutions and libraries can utilize certain materials and how minors engage with artistic displays,” writes Fast Democracy. You can leave comments about the proposed bill here.
On Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., another subcommittee will take up HSB 158, which would make it a felony to take minors to drag shows. The bill has drawn widespread coverage and Facebook postings of opposition from bars and groups throughout Iowa. If you can’t attend in person, you can leave your comment about the bill here.
Both bills are on an annual list of “anti-LGBTQ+” bills noted by One Iowa Action, the lobbying arm of the One Iowa LGBTQ+ civil rights group. The list tracks the bills’ numbers, their sponsors, a summary of why One Iowa objects to them, and the bill’s status thus far in the legislative process, plus upcoming next steps.
The list features only 19 bills so far this year, compared to 28 to 40 by the end of each legislative session from 2022-2024. But in the context of President Donald Trump’s mass erasure of the word “transgender” from federal sites and documents, cancellation of diversity and equity efforts, and funding freezes, activists are especially concerned about bills at the state level that seek similar goals.
March 7 is the next key date for Iowa’s legislative process
If approved by their subcommittees, both bills considered this week would head to House committees for consideration, and would advance to the full House for discussion and possible voting if they received committee approval by Fri., March 7.
They’d then need to receive Senate committee approval by Fri., April 4 to have a chance of advancing through the rest of the legislative process, which would include approval by the full Senate and a signature by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Because both of Iowa’s houses and the governorship are controlled by conservative-leaning Republicans, bills that receive approval by one legislative house are considered to have a strong chance to become law.
A third bill on One Iowa’s list heads to its subcommittee Feb. 24. SF 236 would “prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from requiring foster parents or prospective adoptive parents to affirm or support policies that conflict with their beliefs” when it comes to gender identity or sexual orientation, says FastDemocracy.The HHS also could not disqualify prospective foster parents based on their beliefs, although it does specifically empower the agency to “consider the beliefs of the child and their family when determining appropriate placements.”
What’s the status of One Iowa Action’s other bills of concern?
Two other bills on One Iowa Action’s list have already advanced through House committees and are eligible for full House debate and possible voting:
• World language courses would be prohibited from using “gender-neutral language” (HF 88). The bill also eliminates a requirement for proof of immunization for kids receiving private instruction.
• Colleges and universities could not includes courses that “distort historical events or promote identity politics or theories related to systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege.” (HSB 63)
Six other bills have made it through subcommittees but are not currently scheduled for consideration by committees:
• Public schools would be banned from offering “programs, curricula, tests, surveys, questionnaires, promotions, or instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation” for students in grades 7 through 12th grade (HSB 84).
• Parents and guardians would need to be provided “detailed information about the human growth and development curriculum, the procedure for inspecting instructional materials, and information about any educational conferences or seminars that the school district facilitates,” and would need to provide written informed con sent to attend such conferences, under SF 115.
• Private schools could not receive Iowa tuition assistance if they staffed diversity, equity or inclusion offices (HB 60). The bill would not affect “academic course instruction, research, student organization activities, guest speaker arrangements, and licensed mental or physical health services,” says FastDemocracy.
• Teachers could not be disciplined for using the names under which students are officially registered (HF 80/SF 8).
• A prohibition of minors seeing obscene materials would be extended to also prohibit them from attending “obscene performances” (SF116).
• Health care practitioners could opt out of performing procedures with which they morally disagreed (SF 220/HSB 139).
You can find One Iowa Action’s legislative tracker of “anti-LGBTQ+ bills” here.
Editor’s Note: The first two bills passed out of their three-person subcommittees and are not yet scheduled to be hard by Committees.
