Democrat State Rep. Lindsay James, an “ordained Presbyterian minister,” spent Monday evening defending sexually explicit materials in Iowa school libraries. And on Tuesday, she shared a post from the ACLU of Iowa regarding the removal of books from public libraries:
James compared Moms for Liberty to the Daughters of the Confederacy during her comments on Monday night as well.
There are two comments on the post on her Facebook page, but most people can’t see them because it appears she hid them.
The comment was:
“No, it isn’t censorship. It’s called parenting. You may want your child to read explicit material about dildos the length of your forearm, or graphic instructions how to insert an anal plug, or how to squeeze your balls to get off, or recommending kids to search for porn. Your deviance and your irresponsibility to children does not make you a crusader, it makes you look like a groomer with no morals.”
That comment can’t be seen on her post, though. In response, the individual who made the comment pointed out that the ACLU of Iowa released a press release in May of 2022 on how Iowans can take steps if they’re being blocked or censored by Iowa public officials on social media.
“It is important that First Amendment rights remain protected on social media,” said ACLU of Iowa staff attorney Shefali Aurora. “Elected officials cannot delete comments or block users based on the content of the speech on their official government social media accounts.”
The account doing the censorship is labeled as a politician’s page, noting James is the State Representative. It isn’t labeled as a campaign page.
The individual also commented on another post by James, but that comment has also been hidden. Brett Sullivan wrote that James was the “most dishonest person” involved in the hearing on Monday.
“On record, these women gave accounts how they were called right-win extremists and nazis,” he wrote. “The school and the media allowed them to be doxed and shouted down. You heard these stories clearly, and still had the audacity to purposely try and smear them by comparing their cause to the Daughters of the Confederacy, that tried to ban Uncle Tom’s Cabin because of the evils of slavery. Also you tried to tie in past protests of books during the racist Jim Crow era, that racists tried to ban because of interracial marriage in those books. This kind of smear is disgusting, and you purposely chose those examples to marginalize and dismiss what they are about.”
James was also criticized for her claim about First Amendment free speech.
“Having a dildo as long as your forearm to read about is NOT an idea, it’s obscene,” Sullivan wrote. “It’s not the role of the school to teach children these things. To pretend she is some Constitutionalist is not only laughable, but is on par with the rest of her dishonest political diatribe.
“The Constitution does not allow you to be able to put pornography in the hands of your child. Even if you want to do that at home. You stated you don’t get to have books replaced just because of their ideas. Showing pictures how to insert anal plugs in is not an idea. It’s explicit sexual instruction that is not suitable for kids.”
The Iowa Standard reached out to the ACLU of Iowa, James and the email address listed for her Facebook page.
