Turn off the culture war machine

We held out hope that, when the 2026 Iowa legislative session began, lawmakers would focus on practical solutions to issues such as property taxes, public school funding, property rights, nursing home oversight and the shortage of mental health providers.

But in no time at all, the Republican culture war machine was up and running, spewing bills intended to convert fear into political gain.

That includes Senate File 2003, which would double down on a constitutionally dubious law banning references to LGBTQ people in classroom lessons for students in grades K-6. It’s currently on hold amid a federal court fight.

The new bill would expand the law to prohibit “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction” relating to sexual orientation or “gender theory” in grades K-12. That goes for public schools, charter schools and innovation zone schools.

So, it would be against the law in Iowa to teach high school students about Harvey Milk, the Stonewall riots, or the fact that the first American woman in space was a lesbian. It would conceivably be against the law to discuss the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that scrapped the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. Or the 2025 legislative actions that ended civil rights protections for transgender Iowans.

Why? To keep kids from being confused.

“Introducing these confusing topics to students only encourages them to make irreversible decisions,” said retired Indianola teacher Patty Alexander at a subcommittee hearing on the bill. “Let’s not let ideologies replace knowledge and reason.”

It’s hard to understand how “knowledge” or “reason” are served by hiding the reality that LGBTQ people are part of our communities. The bill’s real intent is to perpetuate the hateful idea that LGBTQ people should be ashamed of who they are.

Teaching students about LGBTQ people and history will not lead to kids making “irreversible decisions,” no more than teaching English will make them Shakespeare.

The real effect of the bill will be to further isolate LGBTQ kids, with potentially tragic consequences.

“We should be focused on prioritizing public school funding, affordability for our people in this state, and making sure that we're balancing a budget in this state that is currently over $1 billion in deficit,” said Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids. “We are focusing on the wrong things when we bring bills like this.”

Donahue is 100% correct. Instead of a Legislature constantly looking for targets, we need one that searches for solutions.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com