Iowa lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that removes gender identity protections from the state’s civil rights code. This move is the first of its kind in the U.S., and it has sparked widespread protests from opponents who argue that it could expose transgender individuals to discrimination in numerous areas of life.
The bill moved quickly through the legislative process after being introduced last week. The state Senate passed the bill first, along party lines, followed by the House less than an hour later. Five House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against it.
The bill removes gender identity as a protected class from the state’s civil rights law and explicitly defines female and male, as well as gender, which will be considered a synonym for sex and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.”
Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank, said that this move will be the first legislative action in the U.S. to remove nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity.
The bill now goes to Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who has previously signed policies banning transgender students from participating in sports and accessing public bathrooms. A spokesperson for Reynolds declined to comment on whether she would sign the bill. If she does, it will take effect on July 1.
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates flooded the Capitol rotunda on Thursday, waving signs that read “Trans rights are human rights” and chanting slogans like “No hate in our state!” There was a heavy police presence, with state troopers stationed around the rotunda. Of the 167 people who signed up to testify at a 90-minute public hearing before a House committee, all but 24 opposed the bill.
Protesters who watched the vote from the House gallery loudly booed and shouted “Shame!” as the chamber adjourned. Many admonished Iowa State Representative Steven Holt, who floor managed the bill and delivered a fierce defense of it before it passed.
Supporters of the change say that the current law incorrectly codifies the idea that people can transition to another gender and grants transgender women access to spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams that should be protected for people who were assigned female at birth. Holt said that the inclusion of gender identity in the civil rights codes threatens recent “common sense” laws that ban transgender participation in sports and access to bathrooms.
