House File 8 is in subcommittee this afternoon and has garnered plenty of public support according to the public comments submitted on the legislature’s website. All 10 Iowans who weighed in on the legislature’s website wrote in support of the bill.
The bill prohibits instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation to students in grades K-3. The bill was filed by Republican Rep. Skyler Wheeler.
“These subjects should not be introduced on a broad scope to all kids at this age,” wrote Carrie Wright. “I would like to see the bill go further and prohibit this teaching through grade 12. If needed, parents should be the ones to decide what to share in accordance with their beliefs.
“These ideologies, I’m afraid, are a trojan horse being introduced under a guise of empathy, compassion and inclusion while they are really the seeds for Marxist, socialist ideas. These are intended to turn children against parents and into activists, such as Mao did in China 50 years ago.”
Micah Wacker said the bill aims to protect children at a very impressionable stage.
“We do not allow them to do lots of things and try to shelter them from the evils of this world,” he wrote. “At this age, they easily accept new ideas and often do not critically think through them first. Presenting them with potentially life-changing ideas at this age is reckless. This bill will help keep our children safe.”
Courtney Collier, like nearly everyone else who commented, encouraged legislators to increase the ban from K-3 to K-12.
“I am disgusted by the gross overreach and intrusion by the school system, as well as the indoctrination they are calling curriculum,” she said. “Promoting, advertising and encouraging the LGBTQ lifestyle to impressionable young children is wrong and reckless because we know that these lifestyles come with a significantly increased risk of suicide and other mental health issues.”
Collier correctly points out that since schools began targeting kids with such ideologies, youth mental health has “declined dramatically.”
Laura Carlson wrote that education should focus on character, math, reading and encouraging joy of learning instead of topics that “dismiss the very science lessons we expect students to believe.”
To read all of the comments, or to submit your own, visit this link.
