The Iowa law prohibiting school libraries from having books containing sexually explicit material can go into effect, federal appeals court judges ruled Friday.

The three-person panel moved to lift the injunction blocking the law from enforcement Friday. Portions of the were previously blocked in January by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that Locher’s decision was based on a “flawed analysis of the law.”

The law prohibits school libraries from including books with written and visual depictions of sex acts from, in addition to banning instruction and materials involving issues of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. These regulations will now be allowed to take effect as legal challenges continue.

The law is being challenged by multiple parties, including the, Iowa Safe Schools, as well as the publisher Penguin Random House and due to the law.

Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown said in a statement that the organization was “disappointed” by the appeals court decision.

“Banning essential books in our schools is a burden for our educators, who will face punishment for not guessing which book fits into a supposed offensive category, and for our students, who are deprived of reading from great authors with valuable stories,” Brown said in a statement. “If Iowa’s elected leaders truly valued education professionals, they would leave important classroom decisions to the local school districts and the experts who work in them – not make what we teach our students a game of political football.”

Critics of the measure say that the law will keep classic literature — like the books “Brave New World” and “Ulysses” — from being available in school libraries, but that a majority of the books removed from school shelves are those focused on stories about race and LGBTQ+ issues, like “Gender Queer,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” and “The Color Purple.”

Educators have criticized the state for not clarifying the rules surrounding the law, as the Iowa Department of Education to provide more information on what materials are considered “age-appropriate” under the law. The state department has said they plan to address allegations of noncompliance on a case-by-case basis.

But Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said the appeals court decision was a win for Iowa parents.

Gov. Kim Reynolds also released a statement supporting the court opinion.

“Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit confirmed what we already knew – it should be parents who decide when and if sexually-explicit books are appropriate for their children,” Reynolds said. “Here in Iowa, we will continue to focus on excellence in education and partnerships with parents and educators.”

The lawsuit found that the district court decision did not properly evaluate the law under existing precedent — referring specially to the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision in , a lawsuit involving speech on social media platforms. However, the judges also rejected the state’s argument that school library materials constitute “government speech.” They also found that a transgender student whose school district banned gender-sexuality alliance clubs due to concerns about the law has standing to sue.

The ACLU of Iowa, alongside Lambda Legal and the Jenner & Block law firm, plaintiffs in the lawsuit, issued a join statement saying that Iowa families and LGBTQ+ students were “deeply frustrated and disappointed” by the court’s decision, especially as the 2024-2025 school year approaches.

“Denying LGBTQ+ youth the chance to see themselves represented in classrooms and books sends a harmful message of shame and stigma that should not exist in schools,” the legal organizations said in the statement. “We are, however, encouraged by the Eighth Circuit’s complete rejection of the State’s most dangerous arguments, and we look forward to renewing our request for relief from this law’s damaging and unconstitutional effects on LGBTQ+ students. … We will ask the district court to block the law again at the earliest opportunity.”

The decision returns the case to district court for further action.

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State Rep. , R-Frisco, sent a letter on Wednesday to school districts asking school officials to sign the pledge. In his letter, Patterson said children across Texas have been exposed to material such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a graphic novel that has both nationwide and in Texas among some parents and Republican officials.

The book, by Maia Kobabe, depicts the author’s experiences growing up and struggling to identify as gay, bisexual or asexual. It contains a few pages of explicit illustrations depicting oral sex, which have outraged some parents and state leaders.

The nonbinary author, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, told The Texas Tribune last year that students need “good, accurate, safe information about these topics” instead of “wildly having to search online” and potentially stumble across misinformation.

But some Republicans, including Gov. , have called the book “pornographic.” Patterson repeated that depiction in his letter.

“Both local districts and the Legislature will be working diligently on policies to prevent such books from being allowed on campus in the future,” Patterson wrote. “However, we also acknowledge school districts have a lot [of] power in the market when purchasing books and that if we stand together against explicit materials for children, book vendors will be forced to adjust.”

The letter was signed by an additional 26 Republican lawmakers, including state Rep. R-Fort Worth, who initially compiled a list of some that he asking for information about how many are available on their campuses.

“Respectfully, I ask you to take this pledge on behalf of every Texas child in public schools who doesn’t deserve to be exposed to obscene materials,” Patterson said.

Abbott cited “Gender Queer” when directing the Texas Education Agency to related to “the availability of pornography” in November and also cited the book when directing the TEA, Texas State Library and Archives Commission and State Board of Education to develop standards to block books with “overtly sexual” content in schools.

Shannon Holmes, executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said in a statement that pornography has a legal definition and not everything a person finds distasteful meets that definition.

“ATPE urges school districts to recognize the power of the elected school board to work with parents and educators to find the right balance for their local communities and avoid getting caught up in these types of politically motivated pledges,” Holmes said in a statement.

Brian Lopez is an education reporter at , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This article  at TexasTribune.org.

A nine-member committee of educators, librarians and parents voted 8-1 Tuesday for author Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir” to remain on Canutillo High School library’s shelves for students to check out, the district announced Wednesday.

“The committee carefully examined the content of the book based on a rubric to determine factors such as its artistic quality and/or literary style; age appropriateness of the subject area; ability for readers to gain an awareness of a pluralistic society and capacity to provide information to motivate students and staff to examine their own attitudes and behavior to make informed choices in their daily lives,” the district said in a statement.

“Gender Queer” is one of a handful of books parents and conservative state lawmakers across the country have attempted to ban from public schools. Most are written by LGBTQ authors and writers of color and explore gender, sexuality and systematic racism.

“Gender Queer” chronicles Kobabe’s journey to identifying as nonbinary and asexual. Its publisher, Simon & Schuster, as “a useful and touching guide on gender identity — what it means and how to think about it — for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere” and recommends it for readers in 10th grade and above.

Canutillo administrators temporarily pulled the district’s sole copy from the high school library’s shelves in late October after parent Breanne Barnes filed a formal objection, or challenge, seeking to remove it from the library’s collection. The school principal appointed the nine members of the reconsideration committee who read the book in its entirety.

Barnes her objection had “nothing to do with LGBTQ versus heterosexual content” but rather with the book’s “pornographic” images and descriptions, which include depictions of oral sex and masturbation.

Barnes could not be immediately reached Wednesday for comment about the committee’s decision. She previously indicated she would not be satisfied until the book is permanently removed from the library, and would possibly file a grievance with the school board.

At least one Texas district has pulled Kobabe’s book from its library shelves without going through a formal book reconsideration process. The Keller Independent School District, which is near Fort Worth, after a parent’s Twitter post that called the book “legitimate visual porn” gained traction.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott highlighted that decision in a Nov. 8 letter to state education officials urging them to develop “statewide standards to prevent the presence of pornography and other obscene content in Texas public schools, including in school libraries.”

Texas Library Association’s President-Elect Mary Woodward said pornography is not in school libraries.

The Katy Independent School District outside Houston five books the district described as “pervasively vulgar,” many of which feature LGBTQ relationships The North East Independent School District in San Antonio has more than 400 books from circulation while they are reviewed by librarians for appropriateness after having been flagged by a state lawmaker.

Neither district is going through the book reconsideration committee process.

The National Coalition Against Censorship denounced actions like this, which it said violate students’ First Amendment rights.

“The law clearly prohibits the kind of activities we are seeing today: censoring school libraries, removing books — and entire reading lists — based on disagreement with viewpoint and without any review of their educational or literary merit,” the NCAC said in a Wednesday that more than 600 organizations, publishers, bookstores, librarians and authors signed onto, including Kobabe.

“Libraries offer students the opportunity to encounter books and other material that they might otherwise never see and the freedom to make their own choices about what to read,” the statement continues. “Denying young people this freedom to explore — often on the basis of a single controversial passage cited out of context — will limit not only what they can learn but who they can become.”

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Â鶹ľ«Ć· has learned the Keller Independent School District in the suburbs of Fort Worth is currently under investigation by the Texas Education Agency following Abbott’s order last month that school districts be investigated for providing students with “obscene” content.

The probe into Keller is focused on whether state policies were followed in the purchase of school library books.  

One of the books Abbott is “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel that and was available at one Keller ISD high school library in the 42-school district. Abbott charged that the book contained “pornographic drawings.” 

A Keller district spokesperson said a librarian immediately retrieved the book and after parents’ complaints surfaced in October. Five more books have also been pulled from library shelves this school year. 

The to prosecute anyone who provides “pornography” to minors comes as parents across the state and country have railed against local school boards for having books with sexually explicit passages in their school or classroom libraries, often related to the LGBTQ experience. 

One San Antonio school district pulled “out of an abundance of caution” to “ensure they did not have any obscene or vulgar material.” The district pulled the books after Fort Worth Republican Rep. Matt Krause, who chairs the Texas House General Investigating Committee, released a list in October of nearly 850 titles he suspected would pertain to race, sexuality or “make students feel discomfort” and asked schools to account for how many copies were in their libraries and classrooms.  

The TEA can only investigate issues that fall within education law, but such an investigation could provide the agency with enough information to refer the case to law enforcement, an agency spokesperson said.

“The decision to undertake a criminal investigation or pursue criminal charges in any particular instance would rest with law enforcement,” the TEA said in a statement to Â鶹ľ«Ć·.

The TEA would not comment on what its own investigation would entail, although it will likely include tracing how book-buying decisions were made. 

Keller ISD officials told Â鶹ľ«Ć· the district would cooperate with the investigation.

Other than “Gender Queer,” a spokesman said five the books have been taken off the shelves this school year amid parent complaints: “Flamer,” by Mike Curato, “Infinity Reaper” by Adam Silvera, “Jack of Hearts” by L.C. Rosen, “L8r g8r,” by Lauren Myracle; and “Panic” by Sharon Draper.

When a book is challenged as “inappropriate,” the complaint is referred to a Book Challenge Committee, made up of parents, teachers and members of the community, a Keller spokesperson said. 

Under Texas law, it is illegal to provide to a minor. State law specifies the material must be “utterly without redeeming social value for minors.”  

The Texas penal code , however, that it is a defense that the material was provided by a person having “scientific, educational, governmental, or other similar justification.” 

Legal and library experts have on whether prosecutions are likely to be successful, noting the legal complexity of cases that often rely on whether sexual content is obscene or protected by the First Amendment. 

The governor has also publicly pointed to Leander Independent School District, located just north of Austin, as another school system that had books with inappropriate sexual content. Namely, he singled out “In the Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado, a memoir about domestic abuse within a same-sex relationship that the district removed from its book club. The book is still available in campus and digital libraries, a district spokesman said.

The district has received no notice it is under investigation, said Matt Mitchell, a spokesman for LISD. 

“We haven’t heard from anyone yet,” said Mitchell. “Our district has worked and will continue to work hard with our community and with our parents, and if there are materials that they don’t approve of, we welcome those conversations.”