Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa had harsh words for people attacking the state’s laws restricting books that describe or illustrate sexual acts in schools.
During a press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked Reynolds about local school districts claiming that there is a lack of guidance in the law, leading to the investigation of hundreds of books. The governor emphasized that the law is clear and blasted the framing of it as a "book ban" as a "d-mn distraction."
"We are way off course. Our kids and our teachers deserve better. They deserve the tools to help these kids succeed, not a d-mn distraction on a nasty, pornographic book that should never, ever be in a classroom. Now, if you're a parent, and you think it's important, this is good, for your child to have access to that. Okay, go buy the book. We didn't ban them. Go buy the book, sit down, have a conversation with your child, but let's not put that on the teachers, and let's not put that on the schools, and I think it's pretty clear," Reynolds said.
She added, "And if they can't distinguish that, I don't know, you know, maybe we outta take a look at what they should be dealing with. So it's just a distraction, and they're trying, they don't like, and so they're blowing it out of proportion. It's simple. The words are clear. Follow the law. Follow the law."
IOWA LEGISLATURE PASSES CRACKDOWN ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS
The law, which was signed in May, restricts books that describe or illustrate sexually explicit acts from public school libraries.
"Sex acts" are defined in the law as "Penetration of the penis into the vagina or anus," "Contact between the mouth and genitalia or mouth and anus or by contact between the genitalia of one person and the genitalia or anus of another person," "Ejaculation onto the person of another" or the "touching of a person’s own genitals or anus with a finger, hand."
Reynolds pointed out that she previously attempted to read excerpts from one of the controversial books to a local news station and the station had to use a disclaimer with the video and "still didn't show it because [they] were uncomfortable - the media was uncomfortable."
"But, yet, somebody believes that our kids should be subjected to that?" Reynolds said.
She added, "You know, I'm a grandma, I was a parent. I think moms and grandmas, they want their kids to get a good education. They want them to be able to read. They want them to be able to do math, science, civics, really understand what the history of this country is, good and bad, and we're not where we need to be. Especially after COVID, and we're lucky because we kept our kids in school, but we are not where we should be."
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The law also prohibited discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools through the sixth grade.
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