Iowa Lawmakers Pass Bill Removing Transgender Civil Rights Protections
Over the objections of protesters and Democrats, the Iowa legislature passed a bill that removes gender identity as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The bill now heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is expected to sign it into law.
The bill, which passed both the House and Senate on Thursday, sparked large demonstrations at the Iowa State Capitol, with protesters chanting and waving pride flags. The legislation ends an 18-year period of state law protections for transgender Iowans, and Democrats argue it will lead to discrimination.
Protesters rally at the Iowa State Capitol.
House members voted 60-36 to approve Senate File 418, with five Republicans voting against the bill. In the Senate, the measure passed 33-15, with Republicans largely voting along party lines. Protests erupted in the gallery after both votes.
Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, who is the first openly transgender member of the Iowa Legislature, spoke forcefully against the bill.
“It revokes protections to our jobs, our homes and our ability to access credit. In other words, it deprives us of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness,” Wichtendahl said. “The purpose of this bill and the purpose of every anti-trans bill is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence.”
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who managed the bill in the House, stated that transgender Iowans would still be protected by federal laws.
“In spite of loud proclamations otherwise, transgender Iowans will have the same rights and protections as everyone else, as they should,” Holt said.
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, rejected that argument.
“This legislature, the majority party is removing the rights of fellow Iowans to housing, credit and jobs,” Konfrst said. “Do not tell me the federal government will save us because they’re already attacking the communities we’re attacking today as well.”
Rep. Aime Wichtendahl of Hiawatha, speaks during debate on the bill.
Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, the first out LGBTQ woman in the Iowa Senate, called the bill part of a national effort to undermine LGBTQ rights.
“Iowa should not become the first state in the nation to remove an entire group of people from civil rights protections,” Bennett said.
Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, who introduced the Senate’s proposal, said the bill clarifies Iowa law and addresses court decisions that have cited gender identity as a protected class. He expressed support for existing laws.
“The intent just is that we have a clear policy that protects women and children that keeps our bathroom and women’s sports bills in code and that protects taxpayers because all of this is already happening,” Schultz said.
Protesters at the Iowa State Capitol.
During a public hearing, Johnson County Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, who is transgender, told lawmakers that arguments the bill protects women and girls are “outrageous.”
Steve Rowland, a supporter of the bill, argued that the 2007 change to include gender identity in the civil rights code “elevated” the rights of transgender people.
“When our civil rights code changed in 2007 to include and acknowledge gender, transgender people were not protected, they were promoted,” he said. “Their rights were elevated above everyone else’s.”
Johnson County Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz speaks.
Rev. Betsey Monnott, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, spoke emphatically in opposition to the bill, stating.
“Transgender Iowans are members of my congregations and members of communities across the state of Iowa,” she said. “They are your neighbors and my neighbors. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is unthinkable to remove civil rights and legal protections from people that we love.”
Cheltzie Miller-Bailey speaks during public hearing.
