Thank you for being involved, and for contacting me on this issue. There has been a large response to HF 2291. I appreciate the opportunity to explain.

First of all, I think it needs to be stated that bullying is wrong. It has always been wrong, and was not made any more wrong simply by the State of Iowa passing a law that said it is illegal. I have yet to hear of an example of a school employee stepping between a bully and a victim, interviewing the bully, and excusing the act due to a characteristic of the victim. It may have happened before, but I would think that an adult lacking in judgment to this degree would not be influenced by the law.

An interesting issue has risen in the response to HF 2291. It is the argument that by simply removing the words “sexual orientation, gender identity,” we have actually made allowable the bullying of certain students. The logic seems to stem from the developing cultural belief that government at any level decides what is right and what is wrong. Any child being assaulted, harassed, ridiculed, or bullied is wrong, and it doesn’t matter if the government says so or not. Let’s not forget where right and wrong come from.

With that being said, the context of HF 2291 is actually one of reacting to events unfolding around us. On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court issued Varnum v. Brien. It is a decision that was felt as an earthquake across the state and across the country. The shock expressed by those across the country could be best summed up in the words so commonly heard from Iowans that had moved away years ago, “What happened to the Iowa I remember?”

I will tell you what happened in Iowa. We weren’t watching. Slowly, over the course of years, the homosexual agenda was realized by introducing, bit by bit, pieces of legislation into the Iowa Code that led to example after example of protected class status to homosexuals. During these years, Legislators that approved of “just giving a little” still went home and would defend their stance supporting the historical definition of marriage. This did not serve their constituents well. Intentional or not, their actions led to April 3, 2009. In fact, the Iowa Supreme Court actually uses Iowa Code as an example of the Legislature recognizing the creation of homosexuals as a protected class. HF 2291 is an attempt to begin to deconstruct the argument that the Iowa Legislature has previously created rights in an area in which no rights have ever existed. The majority of Iowans support real marriage as it has been defined through all of human history. I have been challenged by numerous citizens of House District 55 to do all I can to oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling that legislated from the bench and created a new type of union only heard of in recent times. I believe that the vast majority of citizens in HD 55 would agree, and that is why I filed HF 2291.

Sincerely,

Jason Schultz
State Representative
District 55