Iowa lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would end civil rights protections for trans people. LGBTQ rights advocates say Iowa would be the first state to remove such broad and clear protections for trans people if Republican-supported measures were signed into law.
The bill now heads to the Republican governor’s desk, passed 18 years after the state and then led by Democrats, bringing these discriminatory protections into the Iowa Code.
This week’s debate in Des Moines, protesters and Democrats tried to convince Republican lawmakers to reconsider without success this week, reflecting how much the country’s discourse on transgender issues has taken place and how much has changed in Iowa.
“The purpose of this bill, the purpose of every anti-trans bill, is to further eliminate our public life and stigmatize our existence,” said Democratic Democrat Aime Wichtendahl.
But Republicans say they fear that maintaining a gender identity will leave other state laws, such as those that limit gender transition treatment for minors, and sports participation in transgender women – vulnerable to legal challenges.
“All of these common sense policies are at risk as long as gender identity remains in the Iowa Civil Rights Code,” Steven Holt, a Republican supporter of the bill, said on the House floor.
The Iowa Legislature passed as the Trump administration tried to limit official endorsement of trans identity.
The government has tried to terminate funding for hospitals that provide gender transition treatment for minors, allowing trans women and girls to compete in the women’s movement, openly trans people from military service, live with trans women of men, and no longer reflect trans identity on passports.
The Iowa bill defines a person’s anatomy and removes gender identity from a list of protected groups that employers, businesses, and landlords may not discriminate against. The bill will place discriminatory protections for homosexuals and lesbian people as part of the same measures as protections for gender identity.
In a testimony at the Capitol on Thursday, opponents of the legislation told lawmakers they were concerned that transgenders would face widespread discrimination and harassment if civil rights protections were removed. Many supporters of the bill say they believe that sexual behavior was determined at birth and they are concerned about transgender women using women’s restrooms. Several spokespersons on both sides of the issue quoted their Christian faith.
“I’m angry that Iowa has the legal right to impose itself in the private space of my wife, daughter and granddaughter,” Chuck Hurley, the family leader, told the Legislative Council on Thursday.
Minutes later, Rev. Debbie Griffin urged lawmakers to reject the bill at a church in Des Moines, warning that “it would harm people who are already vulnerable to bullying and discrimination.”
At the federal level, the Supreme Court ruled several years ago that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected homosexuals and transgender people from workplace discrimination. The efforts of Congressional Democrats to extend these protections beyond the workplace have failed.
According to information compiled by think tanks that support LGBTQ rights, there are over 20 countries (most countries led by Democrats) with clear employment discrimination protections for trans people.
The Republican, a spokesman for Gov. Kim Reynolds, did not immediately answer questions Thursday about her legislative stance or plan to sign. She had previously signed laws prohibiting gender transition treatment for minors, which prevented transgender girls and women from participating in women’s movements.
These measures have been part of a broader effort to raise social problems by Iowa Republicans, and so far voters have paid off in the ballot box. In recent years, Ms. Reynolds and legislative Republicans have passed laws to limit abortions, ban school library books from being considered sexually explicit, and allow immigration enforcement at the state level.
Democrats have been trying to back down. Former President Barack Obama has carried Iowa twice, but Republicans have seen their support surge since President Trump became the party’s leader. Trump held Iowa at about 13 percentage points last year, winning 94 of 99 counties, with Republicans retaining a legislative majority in large states. The surprise victory of Democrats was a rare highlight of the party in a special legislative election last month.
Amy Harmon Contribution report.
