Branstad supports exempting Iowa church activities from civil rights law advice

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday applauded a revision made by a state commission to clarify that religious activities at churches are exempt from sexual orientation and gender identity public accommodation guidelines under Iowa's civil rights law.

Officials with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission made changes on Friday to published advice regarding 'gender segregated restrooms” after wording indicating there was no 'bona fide religious exemption” to the law's provisions was challenged in federal court by a Des Moines church and the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom.

'I didn't ask them to change it, but I support the action that they took,” Branstad said during his weekly news conference Monday. 'I think they wanted to clarify the law and make it clear that they have no intention of going after people for exercising their freedom of religion.”

Commission executive director Kristin Johnson issued a statement last week indicating revisions had been made to a publication that had not been updated since 2008 clarifying 'that religious activities by a church are exempt from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

'The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has never considered a complaint against a church or other place of worship on this issue,” Johnson said in a statement. 'This statute was amended to add these protected classes (sexual orientation and gender identity) in 2007 and has been in effect since then.

'The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has not done anything to suggest it would be enforcing these laws against ministers in the pulpit, and there has been no new publication or statement from the ICRC raising the issue,” she added.

However, Christiana Holcomb, an alliance attorney who is representing the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in its lawsuit against the state, said the revision made by unelected commission officials would not head off a federal lawsuit challenging what her group views as 'bad law.” The alliance brought the 'pre-enforcement challenge” lawsuit seeking injunctive and declaratory relief under the U.S. Constitution at the Iowa church's request, she said, to stop the potential for government interference with the exercise of its religious beliefs and practices.

Holcomb said the commission made a 'minor revision” to its public accommodations provider's guide to Iowa law that 'failed to alleviate the concerns regarding a vague state law at issue” in the lawsuit her organization filed on behalf of the Des Moines church.

'Cosmetic changes to the alarming language in one brochure won't fix the unconstitutionality of the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Churches should be free to communicate their religious beliefs and operate their houses of worship according to their faith without fearing government punishment,” Holcomb said in a statement.

The revised commission publication answers 'no” to questions of whether Iowa's law prohibits gender-segregated restrooms or sex-segregated locker rooms and living facilities.

'It is still legal in Iowa for businesses to maintain gender-segregated restrooms. The new law does require, however, that individuals are permitted to access those restrooms in accordance with their gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth,” according to the commission.

Also, the publication says 'Iowa law does not prohibit places of public accommodation from maintaining separate facilities for the different sexes, so long as they are comparable. The new law does require, however, that individuals are permitted to access those facilities in accordance with their gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth, without being harassed or questioned.”

The commission revision notes that places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, 'are generally exempt from the Iowa law's prohibition of discrimination, unless the place of worship engages in non-religious activities which are open to the public. For example, the law may apply to an independent day care or polling place located on the premises of the place of worship.”