Transgender bill betrays Iowa values

Iowa has been my home since 1998. When my family moved back to the South, I chose to stay because I believed in Iowa’s values — fairness, community, and opportunity. I built my life here, built my family here. But now, Iowa lawmakers have betrayed those values by passing legislation that strips transgender Iowans of their civil rights.

This bill is not just cruel — it is historically unprecedented. Never before has a state removed a protected class from its civil rights code. It sets a dangerous precedent, signaling that the rights of marginalized people can be stripped away at the whim of those in power.

Legislators claim this bill is about protecting women and children, but that argument is the same one used to justify bans on interracial marriage and segregation. It’s fearmongering, plain and simple. The reality is that transgender people have existed throughout history. We are your neighbors, your colleagues, your family members. This bill won’t erase us, but it will make life in Iowa more dangerous for us.

Beyond its legal implications, this legislation is a moral failing. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, not to weaponize religion against the marginalized. The Bible itself presents God beyond the rigid gender binary — described as both Father and Mother, a Warrior and a Seamstress, Creator and Spirit. If the divine is not constrained by human notions of gender, why do lawmakers feel entitled to erase transgender people from public life?

Stripping transgender Iowans of civil rights protections will not make the state safer, but it will make it emptier. Already, my friends and fellow transgender Iowans are making plans to leave. Many young professionals are looking beyond Iowa’s borders, unwilling to build their futures in a state that refuses to recognize their dignity. Businesses that value diversity will hesitate to invest in a state openly hostile to its own people. The long-term consequences will be devastating — not just for transgender Iowans, but for the economy, workforce, and reputation of the state itself.

Some lawmakers claim they are acting in defense of “liberty.” But what liberty remains when the government actively sanctions discrimination? Others invoke religion, yet they ignore its central teachings of love, justice, and compassion. And to those who dismiss this as mere politics, I ask: how can my right to exist in public life be up for debate?

I refuse to let my existence be erased. Transgender people have always been here, and we always will be. Iowa has a choice — will it be remembered as the first state to strip away rights, or as a place that values justice over fear?

History will remember. I urge those with a conscience to be on the right side of it.

Mx. Chris Morse lives in Des Moines.