Coralville adopts resolution to signal support for LGBTQ+ community

CORALVILLE — The Coralville City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to adopt an Equal Rights Protection resolution, meant to publicly reaffirm civil rights protection for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The resolution draws attention to Chapter 26 of Coralville City Code, also known as the Human Rights Ordinance, which was adopted in 2007. The ordinance specifically outlaws discrimination on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

“This resolution is the way for Coralville as a city to reaffirm that every single person that lives here in Coralville or frequents Coralville deserves equal protection,” said council member Hai Hyunh.

Johnson County’s Trans Advisory Committee has been working with local elected officials to pass resolutions like the one Coralville adopted, in part due to action from Republican state lawmakers, who passed a bill this year — that was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds — to remove gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

The committee, which was established in March 2024, is comprised of members of the transgender and nonbinary community, county staff, county supervisors and other county residents.

“Supporting this resolution to reinforce and strengthen the Coralville Human Rights Ordinance to protect access to resources for the transgender community without discrimination, bravely pushes back on the active endeavor to erase transgender folks from public life,” Katie Freeman, a member of the committee, said during public comment at the council meeting.

Freeman also is a candidate for one of the city council seats in the November general election.

Iowa City Council adopted a similar resolution in August, after working with members of the Trans Advisory Committee. Members of Iowa City Council urged other local municipalities to follow suit and adopt resolutions of their own.

Council members disagree over necessity of resolution

Council member Rich Vogelzang, who cast the one vote against the resolution, said city code was already thorough enough to not need an additional resolution, especially when there are other members of protected classes outside the LGBTQ+ community that also experience discrimination.

“I don't care how people live in the core of my soul. I don't care how an individual lives until they do harm to other people … My objection to this resolution is purely procedural. It's not a personal thing,” Vogelzang said at the council meeting.

Other members of council disagreed with Vogelzang’s assessment, saying that even if the resolution doesn’t change the city code, it’s still an important tool local governments have to signal a stance to city residents.

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“I think that right now stuff like this is very important because of the climate that we are in, because we have got to be abundantly clear about where we stand. This, as a lot of folks have pointed out, will not solve everything that is happening. But again, I think it is an important show of support,” said Mayor Meghann Foster.

Senate File 418, which went into effect July 1, removed gender identity as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, struck the definition of gender identity in state law, and created new legal definitions of male and female based on reproductive organs at birth.

“We've taken a giant step back at this point, and our state reps harm people when they did that and our federal government is trying to harm people and trying to use this issue,” said council member Mike Knudsen. “So this is a small step we can take to counteract that harm that's been done. So if you're opposed to harm, you should be for this.”

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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