The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda Legal are suing to block portions of a sweeping Iowa law that restricts schools from teaching about LGBTQ topics and requires them to ban books depicting sex acts.

The groups are representing eight Iowa students and their families, along with Iowa Safe Schools, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ students. They say the law discriminates against LGBTQ students and violates their rights to free speech, free association, equal protection and due process in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First and 14th amendments.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the sweeping education law, Senate File 496, earlier this year after it passed the Republican-led Iowa Legislature with only GOP support. She has said the law gives parents more control over their children’s education and removes “pornographic” books from schools.

“SF 496 is a clear violation of public school students’ First Amendment right to speak, read and learn freely,” said Thomas Story, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Iowa. “The First Amendment does not allow our state or our schools to remove books or issue blanket bans on discussion and materials simply because a group of politicians or parents find them offensive.”

Puck Carlson, a high school junior from Iowa City and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said it’s important for students to be able to access literature in which they can see themselves.

“Removing books that discuss queer topics or people from our schools tells our queer students that they do not belong there, that their existence is shameful,” Carlson said in a statement. “I am not shameful. I have an LGBTQ little sister, who I love more than anything in this world, and she is not shameful. She deserves to be herself and to know that she belongs.”

More:Iowa’s proposed rules on banning books in schools are out. Here’s what you should know:

Reynolds; along with the Iowa Department of Education and its director, McKenzie Snow; the Iowa Board of Education; and the Iowa City, Sioux City, Urbandale, Waterloo and West Des Moines school districts; are defendants in the case.

The law has drawn heated protests this year from students, teachers, school administrators and LGBTQ Iowans who say it amounts to an attack on LGBTQ Iowans and creates a maze of confusing requirements for school districts to navigate.

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court Tuesday in the Southern District of Iowa, challenges three sections of the wide-ranging education law. They are:

• The law’s ban on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity before seventh grade.
• The law’s requirement that K-12 schools remove all books containing descriptions or depictions of sex acts.
• The law’s requirement that school districts inform parents if a student asks to use different pronouns at school.

The lawsuit says the law violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by infringing on students’ right to free speech, free association and to receive information. They also argue it violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses by discriminating against LGBTQ students.

The lawsuit seeks to have the law declared unconstitutional and permanently blocked.

More:Iowa LGBTQ families ask if they still belong after new laws restrict their rights

The Iowa Board of Education released rules for implementing the law in November, but Story said the law is “deeply confusing” for schools, leaving them at a loss for how to comply.

“This law has thrown the school year into chaos as schools struggled to figure out how to comply with this confusing law,” he said. “Iowa schools across the state have been given an impossible task and it is no surprise that no two districts seem to be approaching compliance in the same way.”

In response to the law, schools around Iowa have removed hundreds of books from their shelves.

More:Which banned books have been removed from Iowa schools? Our updated database lists them

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.