T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — MCC students took to the front lawn of the college campus on Tuesday to hold a protest voicing opposition to recent LGBTQ legislation in Iowa.

Students at Marshalltown Community College took to the front lawn of the campus Tuesday morning to organize a demonstration opposing recent legislation introduced and passed by the Iowa Legislature this year.

Republican lawmakers in Iowa have been pushing bills aimed at restricting school policies and state law regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, gender-affirming care along with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs throughout the state.

Among others, bills have been passed and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds which would prohibit teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation to students through sixth grade, restrict students from using a restroom that matches their gender identity, and ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender and nonbinary youth under 18.

Student organizer Cassandra Ralston said the recent encroachment by governing bodies on what can and cannot be taught in Iowa schools regarding gender identity and sexual orientation was the main driver for students to assemble in protest at MCC.

“We’re protesting the Iowa legislation that is trying to control education and keep people uneducated on minorities, LGBTQ folks, and defund the diversity committees around universities, and I would say, ruining education in a way,” Ralston said.

Ralston, who prefers to use they/them pronouns, said the recent legislation is designed to broadly limit education around LGBTQ matters and alienate those who do not identify as heterosexual or cisgender.

“I think it’s a control thing. The more people are less aware of each other, the more people are less understanding, the less we care for one another,” they said. “(They think) they’re others, they’re not humans, they’re concepts, thoughts, instead of real, breathing humans, and I think that these sorts of bills are trying to make people others.”

Rather, Ralston said that education should be the key to bringing greater awareness and appreciation for one another.

“I think education is the biggest equalizer. I think it’s the best way of understanding, supporting and being there for others,” they said.

Ralston also added that while things may be rocky right now, they believe LGBTQ communities can persevere through the current struggles and stand up for their place in Iowa.

“Stay strong and don’t be ashamed of who you are,” Ralston said. “We feel like we’re so small when we’re not, and I feel like as long as they stay stubborn and keep their roots in deep. It’ll pass by and we’ll get through it.”

MCC faculty were also on hand to support the student-led protest, and for English faculty member Amee Schmidt, she was excited to see the younger generation make their voices be heard in their own community.

“Gen-Z kids rock,” Schmidt said. “They live in a global culture in a way that none of us have ever experienced before… They understand the world as the world and a larger sense of what it means to be a member of a community, and I think that that’s why we see them doing what they’re doing right now.”

As fellow faculty member Ramona Linville said, seeing the active group of young students taking legitimate interest in ongoing affairs gave her a sense of hope for the future.

“You’re looking at who the leaders are going to be in a very, very short time,” Linville said. “I think, across the nation, in our state, there’s a generational lag, and that generational lag will get better, but they just need to hold their own… our ideas will catch up, that lag will close, it won’t always be as restrictive as it is now.”

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Contact Nick Baur at (641) 753-6611 or nbaur@timesrepublican.com.