Meeting Public Comments

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

Comments Submitted:

01-17-2023

Devon McClurken []

This is in response to HF8. Eliminating discussion on gender identity and sexual orientation is simply not possible. All children have families, and discussion regarding families is inherently around sexual orientation and gender identity. Children will talk about their mom and their dad, or their mom and their mom, or their dad and their dad. Telling the children that those discussion are not appropriate is harmful as it can make children think their families are wrong.

01-17-2023

Kellen Urban []

This policy would force teachers to out queer students which would lead to them possibly being abused or disowned by their bigoted parents. Also, the lack of learning about queer people is also harmful as there is nothing inappropriate about their identities to children, I highly implore the committee reflect on their actions to prevent this harm from passing.

01-17-2023

Lily Wasserman []

This is in response to HF8. Eliminating discussion on gender identity and sexual orientation is wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a member of the LGBTQIA community and kids deserve education on more than just heterosexual relationships. Trans children should also not be outted to their parents without the child's consent. It is a breach of trust, a huge potential threat of abuse if the child's parents are transphobic, and just cruel. Trans children deserve respect and safety when at school.

01-17-2023

Allison Chapman []

HF8 and HF9 will greatly harm gender nonconforming kids. By forcing them out to their parents it will put them in grave danger for their lives and will cause suicides. Stand up for trans kids and protect them. There is blood on the hands of anyone who supports these awful bills.

01-17-2023

Tyler Walpole []

These are absurd bills that are designed for two things. 1) its seeks to cause harm to marginalized populations in our schools (trans kids without support have an extraordinarily high suicide rate)2) it seeks to codify an environment of fear around LGBTQIA+ issues for Republicans to raise campaign funds. These bills are an embarrassment to our state, and Iowa Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to pass hateful bills like this.

01-17-2023

Autumn Cunningham []

HF 8 Students may have family members who are gay or trans. Dont ask them to erase their own family by making it forbidden to talk about or acknowledge their very existence. Thats cruel! HF 9 kids express themselves in all different ways. Why not allow them to experiment with how they express their gender and presentation? Its better for their development. And the minute you tell a kid, they CANNOT, guess what they want to do most?

01-17-2023

Jason Dalrymple []

Re: HF8,There are scientific and statistical studies of "human growth development" that show that the absence of any form of discussion on gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation have adverse effects on individuals later in life, including but not limited to, increased suicide rates, major depression, and early teen pregnancy. To make any curriculum completely bereft of these topics is a tremendous detriment to the future healthy development of children's attitudes towards and understanding of sex and gender.

01-17-2023

Cece Cronin [None]

As a queer person it would break my heart if my nephew wasnt allowed to explore himself and his identity safely in school as I did. Home isnt always a safe space the last we should be doing is removing safe spaces from already vulnerable groups. As for talking about lgbt+ family that would greatly limit who my nephew could talk about at school including his mother, his uncle, and I. Every teacher wants every kid to have the best support system possiblelets not limit it based on biases we do not all share. People argue parental rights on banning lgbt+ discussion in the classroomdo queer parents not have rights? My sister wants her son to learn about all people snd identities for we live with all people in the real world. My sister wants him to learn real history and science. Why are her rights worth less then others?

01-17-2023

Michael Ward []

This bill is absurd and a direct attack at the Trans community. This bill violates the rights of an already marginalized group that Iowa legislators are looking to erase. I beseech the legislative body to vote against this Bill.

01-17-2023

Erin Reed []

I am a policy researcher and I am contacting you to express my opposition to HF 8 and 9. These bills would do enormous harm to our teachers and families who are part of the diverse makeup of LGBTQ+ Iowans. They especially the transgender community, as H 8 directly makes it against the law to give any "announcement" of gender identity. This means transgender teachers who transition would be unable to do so in the classroom. This would be an enormous burden to those teachers and force them to flee the state if they wish to continue teaching.HF9 would target transgender youth by forcing teachers and counselors to out transgender youth to their parents. Furthermore, it heavily damages the extremely important relationship a student builds with their counselor when confiding in them. Bills like this would prevent trans students from seeking counseling out of fear they will be outed or harmed. For those who do confide their gender identity to their counselor, it will force the counselor to out the student to their parents. This is especially problematic if the student feels that outing them to their family will result in mental or physical abusiveness. The National Institute of Health reports that school support is extremely effective in helping LGBTQ+ youth feel safe, experience less victimization, show less absenteeism, and obtain higher GPAs when they are supported by administrators and staff. I have attached a copy for your consideration. Bills like these would harm LGBQT+ students in meaningful and measurable ways. It is for this reason that the NIH recommends against noninclusive cirriculum standards and forced outing provisions, and I do as well.

Attachment

01-17-2023

Iam Monroe []

This is in response to HF 8 and HF 9. Repression of LGBT kids, and all kids rights to learn of such will do nothing but harm onto them and their futures. Eliminating the right for kids to be able to express and be themselves will significantly impact their confidence, wellbeing, success at school and in life overall.

01-17-2023

Zarrakan Carvin [zarrakan.com]

Being Transgender is a medical condition that you have since birth! Stop trying to hurt Transgender people over a medical condition they never asked for! The 3 Path Transition Guide is an excellent resource for transgender topics, is what I base 3 Paths Of Transitioning on, and I make monthly updates to both to keep them current. Post their links everywhere transgender is mentioned to educate people about this medical condition, and fight bigotry. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l4MVgUp4yGqJjFN54wuYtRNu2RjsZEBT/view?usp=sharing

Attachment

01-17-2023

Paola Simi []

HF8 and HF9 would bring harm to LGBTQ+ youth. Requiring teachers to report will directly put students with homophobic parents in danger; even with loving parents, deciding when and how to come out is a personal decision. This is a violation. Lack of education on the LGBTQ+ community only means that queer children are left feeling unsupported and misunderstood. Hiding information from kids will not change their sexuality, it will just make them feel like outcasts.

01-17-2023

Fiona Bennitt []

Both HF8 and HF9 are cruel bills that will harm children, their families, and their communities. Imagine being so set on culture war agenda that you would out children to their parents who could then abuse them due to the rhetoric you have espoused. Imagine being so heartless, or don't, because y'all authored this bill. It is sickening to see people who comfortably hold power abusing it to this extent and putting children in harm's way. Shame on you.As for HF8, children do not live in a vacuum. Clear, thoughtful, and direct communication regarding gender and sexuality is entirely appropriate for young children, and helps them understand the beautiful diversity of human experience in their communities and across this country. To deny them these basic facts about the world is inhumane and cannot be tolerated.

01-17-2023

Tony Coronado []

This bill is dangerous and will further endanger LGBTQ families and communities. Eliminating discussion of the existence of queer individuals will historically lead to further bigotry and hatred towards our communities. LGBTQ communities do not deserve to be treated as a forbidden topic. Free discussion of the diverse reality of our world is crucial to helping young people develop further empathy and understanding towards others.

01-17-2023

Olivia Sandbothe []

This is in regards to HF9. As a graduate of Des Moines public schools, the child of a retired teacher, and someone with several transgender friends, I am shocked to see this proposal in Iowa. We cannot weaponize teachers and classrooms against vulnerable children. Calling children by their preferred name, allowing them to use the restroom safely, or allowing them to dress comfortably are not "facilitations," they are basic respect. Forcing teachers to betray the trust of their students not for the student's own safety but to satisfy a political agenda is not protection, it is endangerment. This bill is performative cruelty and it cannot become law.

01-17-2023

Jason Dalrymple []

Re: HF9,The forced outing of trans individuals is an incredibly dangerous and life threatening approach to working with kids that are or believe they are trans. To say that a person's gender identity is completely immutable and should not be explored based on a decision made at infancy and only on physical characteristics reduces human beings to nothing but their biological or physical parts.In some cases, trans kids may be living in an extremely hostile environment and have no option but to confide in school officials. Divulging this to a parent or guardian could potentially put the person in a life threatening situation and be a violation of a student's right to privacy. When combined with HF8, this makes could lead to significant child abuse in the home along with major increases in childhood depression and suicide.

01-17-2023

Dylan Yates []

This is in response to HF8. Eliminating discussion on gender identity and sexual orientation is wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a member of the LGBTQ+ and children deserve education on more than just heterosexual relationships. Trans children should also not be outted to their parents without the child's consent. It is a breach of trust, a huge potential threat of abuse if the child's parents are transphobic, and just cruel. Trans children deserve respect and safety when at school.

01-17-2023

Rachael Lewis-Krisky []

The longterm consequences of denying children access to education in any subject area is detrimental to their lives. Furthermore, the impact that LGBTQ+ have had on American history is undeniable, and to root it out of public curriculum is to lie about the progress our country has made; it would simply be an unAmerican education.

01-17-2023

Kai Brown []

The only thing that this bill would do is make it more likely for children to be disowned and feel unsafe around their parent(s). I implore the officials leading this meeting to think carefully about how their actions today will affect the wellbeing and safety of thousands of children, as well as what kind of example will be set for other states if they choose to follow suit.

01-17-2023

Joshua Roebbelen []

The Removal of the discussion of Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation is impossible. All this policy would do is throw an already marginalized group under the bus, and will cause far more hate towards these groups. Kids will get bullied, Kids will get disowned, Kids will die. This policy is foolish and shows a blatant lack of empathy and lack of understanding of the subject matter.

01-17-2023

Kyle Johnson []

Injustice anywhere is an affront to justice everywhere. A bill like this is not truly about the emotional welfare of students, it is simply about the control of access to ideas that one group doesnt like. This will not stop LGBTQ kids/people from existing, but it will make it even harder to thrive, survive. This will be another dangerous obstacle in a world full of them. Please do not let this bill progress any farther, it isnt about the safety of children. Its about attempting to stop them from being who they truly are, and the direct result of it will just be more pain, heartache, abuse, and death. We know from mountains of research that regressive policies like this only harm children and people in the long run, and that these obstacles do not stop people from being who they truly are. No child is done a disservice when they are told from a young age that they are valid, whole, and accepted. I beg you to see reason and place this awful idea in the trash heap.

01-17-2023

Dani Zivojnovich []

As a Trans person and an lifelong Iowan, I'm deeply hurt that this government feels they have the need to attack us. We are just trying to get by each day, and live our lives just like everyone else.

01-17-2023

Riley Winters []

This bill jeopardizes the health and wellbeing of transgender students. Being forcibly outed is a traumatizing experience and it will undoubtedly lead to a decline in the mental health and increased fear in transgender students.

01-17-2023

Alyssa MacKenzie [Global Trans Rights Alliance]

These bills are nothing more than a direct attack on trans people and the LGBTQ+ community. They stigmatize the mere existence of trans people and attempt to teach people that its wrong to exist as trans or LGBTQ+. I dont know how many times we need to keep doing this before religious extremists are going to understand; STOP TREATING STATES LIKE YOUR CHURCH. Leave the LGBTQ+ community alone.

01-17-2023

Vincent Triveri []

Regarding both HB 8 and HB 9, these bills have the potential to be incredibly dangerous for the groups of kids that they are affecting. Modern topics of equality should be taught in ALL schools, and trans students shouldn't have to feel worried about being outed to their parents, which could very much harm them. Using kids as another political tool is wrong, and no one should have to worry about their government officials being against them.

01-17-2023

Matthew knowles []

what are you doing? why are you trying to bully children? you're grown adults with all the power in the world and you're using that power to write laws that force teachers to abuse children. simply because they are trans? it's monsterous. leave these decisions up to families and doctors. you are politicians this is not your place.

01-17-2023

Yamini Manikoth []

Children are smart, children are capable of doing their own research, children know how to keep secrets. The only thing you serve to do by making teachers and school authorities untrustworthy is promise that there will be one less adult they can go to if they are struggling. If a student who is trans is being bullied and harassed why would they ask for help from their teachers, if their teachers will then make their home life more dangerous than the bullying? If teachers obscure facts from their students to hide lgbtq+ history when their students learn that history and they WILL learn that history, because the world is always at their fingertips why would they trust anything their teachers teach them? How could they possibly trust that the information they are being given isnt designed to bias them? You are making your teachers untrustworthy.

01-17-2023

Denise Perez []

Bills HF8 and HF9 are dangerous to our LGBTQ kids who do not have a supportive family/home. In addition, gender norms are changing and our kids are surrounded by this. It is a topic that can't be avoided or denied. This in turn only makes early education more difficult than it needs to be. Lastly, these bills are cruel, and deny our LGBTQ kids the ability to learn in a safe and accepting environment.

01-17-2023

James Edmondson []

This bill is a truly pointless attack on the rights that make this country great. Every American is entitled regardless of age to a right to privacy. A bill like this would strip our most vulnerable people of that right. It would also legitimately put children in danger, many children who would be homeless if they came out to their families seek to confide in teachers. A bill like this would put those children in needless danger. As a wise woman once said you can make trans kids sad, you can make them scared, you can make them hurt , you can make them homeless but you can't make them cis.

01-17-2023

Kwabena Asare []

Why are people afraid to have difficult and complex discussions? Practicing avoidance and ignoring students and their needs will cause many more problems than it will resolve. Address the topics head on and deal with them directly HF8 is a huge step backwards and away from the reality of America in 2023.

01-17-2023

Samantha TANKSLEY []

This is a clear attack on transgender children. children have a right to live their life as their true self and this bill will open then up to bullying from kids and adults, including parents who are transphobic. This is nothing more than an a blacklist against transgender children