LGBTQ conference organizers’ refusal to meet with Iowa lawmakers called ‘poor form’

DES MOINES - The refusal to voluntarily appear before an Iowa legislative committee could set up a showdown between lawmakers and the organizer of a 2015 anti-bullying conference that allegedly provided students with instructions on 'safe” sexual bondage and how to find orgies.

Nate Monson, executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, said though his attorney that appearing before the House Government Oversight Committee would 'unnecessarily blur the bright line” between the private organization that organizes the annual Iowa Governor's Conference on LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning) Youth, and the state's regulatory authority.

'That is simply a step too far,” Monson's attorney Nate Boulton wrote to Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Melcher-Dallas, who had requested the meeting. Heartsill is vice chairman of Oversight.

However, Oversight Chairman Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, Wednesday called Monson's refusal 'poor form and an escalation.”

'Initially, he said he wanted to come in and not only explain the questions ahead of him, but talk about how great the conference was,” Kaufmann said, adding that he'd prefer that to issuing a subpoena.

Monson's change of heart 'kind of shows guilt” in light of the accusations that students in middle and high school were presented X-rated material, Kaufmann said.

However, Boulton explained that for Monson to participate in Oversight hearings would 'appear to acquiesce to state regulation and oversight of the content of this private organization's programming.”

Monson has stated he's proud that the 11-year-old conference 'provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for an at-risk population to come together to discuss important and lifesaving information they do not receive elsewhere.”

Boulton also pointed out that the conference is 'funded exclusively” through private foundations and individuals. Iowa Safe Schools is not an agency of the state, is not state-run and is not funded with state appropriations.

However, Heartsill, who is expected to make a report to the full committee next week, contends that because taxpayer dollars were used to pay for busing and registration for the students there is a public interest in the conference.

There's also confusion because the conference is called the 'Governor's Conference, Heartsill said. 'There is the air that this is in some way a conference that is not private.”

The April 2015 conference attracted about 600 students along with another 400 parents, school personnel and faith communities, according to Monson. He said the Oversight investigation is fueled by lawmakers 'obsessed” with the LGBTQ lifestyle. Students, he said, were given sexual health information not widely available in school health classes.