In recent months, public schools have become a battleground over issues regarding parental rights. In April of 2023, Senate Bill 496 was passed in Iowa, putting limitations on multiple highly debated topics, including gender expression and pronoun usage.
The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) responded to this bill with a statement of their own, expressing their compliance with the bill.
“Our District is committed to complying with Iowa law Senate File 496. We continue to work with legal counsel to ensure we have a complete and accurate understanding of the new requirements. Our curriculum and administrative teams are collaborating with their counterparts across the state to navigate this new legislation,” said ICCSD director of communications, Kristin Pedersen, in a statement from the district.
For many students at Liberty, the details of this bill didn’t quite sink in when it was initially passed.
“I really had to go to school for it to make an impact. In the summer I knew it was going to affect me, but it felt very surreal at the time,” said Clover Babka, 12. Babka found that his life at school was tremendously affected by this legislation. Because of the stipulations of this bill, Babka couldn’t use the name he preferred, or the pronouns he identified as.
“It felt awful, I never thought that I would have to hear it [his deadname] again,” Babka stated. Like many other students in Iowa, Babka was unable to use the name he preferred. His name assigned at birth is what shows up in databases, and because of this, teachers were forced to use his deadname.
Luckily, Babka has supportive parents, who signed the waiver to have his name changed. But not all students in the state of Iowa have this luxury. The purpose of this bill is to increase parental rights in public schools. The argument is that if parents are paying tax dollars to public schools, they should have a say in what is taught and allowed in these schools. When signing this bill, Kim Reynolds, Iowa Governor, expressed her enthusiasm for the legislation.
“Education is the great equalizer, and everyone involved-parents, educators, our children-deserves an environment where they can thrive,” stated Reynolds.
As these types of laws continue to get passed, Avery House, 11, isn’t planning on staying in Iowa for college.
“I love Iowa…I love living here…But now that I know multiple transphobic bills have been passed specifically targeting children, I don’t want to live here anymore.” Avery feels as though the state of Iowa will never accept them.
“It’s fostering a place where I can’t be myself…I can’t love my state with the same arter because it’s going to hate me no matter what I do…They’ve taken something from me and I can’t ever get that back.”
As time goes on, it’s hard to tell what will come of this bill. House hopes that the state of Iowa will see some changes regarding these legislations.
“Change is scary for everyone. It’s strange when you’ve grown up learning that there are men, and there are women, and they don’t cross…I get that you would want to keep it the way you’ve always known out of fear, but I think that [this] specific fear is hurting people. “
These new legislations have brought some major changes to the public schools in Iowa. Babka hopes that people can understand the harm these bills are bringing on Iowa LGBTQ+ youth.
“The more we penalize people for their identity, the more separate we are going to become from each other.”