Iowa Safe Schools, et al v. Reynolds
Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Iowa, and Jenner & Block LLP filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Iowa Safe Schools, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ and allied youth, Iowa students and their families, and Iowa public school teachers. The lawsuit challenges SF 496—a sweeping state law that aims to silence LGBTQ+ students in public schools, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from K-6 classrooms, and books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content from school libraries.
SF 496 causes direct, serious harm to LGBTQ+ students. The book ban has already stripped hundreds of titles from Iowa school libraries leaving LGBTQ+ students without narratives that reflect their lives. The “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” provision silences students and educators alike, forcing student groups to stop meeting, removing safe-space symbols from classrooms, and chilling any acknowledgment that LGBTQ+ people exist. Perhaps most dangerously, the forced outing provision requires teachers, counselors, and other staff to report students to their parents or guardians if a student asks to be referred to by names or pronouns that align with their gender identity — even when they know that disclosure could expose the student to abuse, rejection, or homelessness. These provisions violate students’ First Amendment rights to speak, read and learn freely, are unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, and reflect government hostility toward LGBTQ+ young people.
We are asking the court to declare these harmful provisions of SF 496 unconstitutional and permanently block its enforcement. After a preliminary injunction temporarily shielding students from the law was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in April 2026, the case has returned to the district court, where the fight to permanently strike down this law continues.
- November 28, 2023: Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Iowa, and Jenner & Block file a federal lawsuit challenging SF 496’s book ban, “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” provision, and forced outing rule, and ask the court to immediately block the law.
- December 29, 2023: The district court temporarily blocks the book ban and “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” provisions, finding both likely unconstitutional. The forced outing provision is not blocked.
- January 12, 2024: Iowa appeals the temporary block to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
- June 11, 2024: The Eighth Circuit hears oral argument.
- August 9, 2024: The Eighth Circuit overturns the injunction and sends the case back to the district court, directing reconsideration following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Moody v. NetChoice. The law goes back into effect just before the school year begins.
- October 18, 2024: Plaintiffs file an amended complaint adding: two Iowa public school teachers as new plaintiffs.
- October 19, 2024: Plaintiffs file renewed request for a preliminary injunction.
- February 6, 2025: The district court holds a hearing on the renewed injunction request.
- May 15, 2025: The district court grants the preliminary injunction, again temporarily blocking key portions of the “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” and forced outing provisions, and blocking the book ban in its entirety.
- June 13, 2025: Iowa appeals the May 15 ruling to the Eighth Circuit. The temporary block on SF 496 remains in place while the appeal proceeds.
- January 13, 2026: The Eighth Circuit hears oral arguments on Iowa’s appeal.
- April 6, 2026: The Eighth Circuit overturns the preliminary injunction, allowing SF 496 to go back into effect. The ruling also narrows how the law may be applied — limiting the classroom speech ban to mandatory instruction, narrowing the book ban to specific depictions defined under Iowa criminal law, and restricting the forced outing provision to formal accommodation requests.
- April 20, 2026: Plaintiffs ask the full Eighth Circuit to rehear the case (en banc).
- May 12, 2026: The Eighth Circuit denies rehearing. The case returns to the district court, where Lambda Legal and its partners continue to press for permanent relief.