Wichtendahl’s eloquent plea falls on deaf ears

On Thursday afternoon, state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl rose on the floor of the Iowa House to speak against legislation removing gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act and erasing all mention of trans identity from Iowa law.

Democrats fighting the bill gave Wichtendahl the last word. That’s appropriate, given Wichtendahl, a Democrat from Hiawatha, is the first transgender Iowan to serve in the Legislature. Her remarks were poignant, painful and eloquent.

“I must confess, it pains me to be here today,” Wichtendahl said. “It pains me to see how the rights of an entire group of people can be so quickly and easily discarded. It pains me to hear the slander, the stereotypes and the fear leveled at the trans community, my community, my friends and my family, my people. People who just want to live their lives to be themselves and to live free of fear.”

Wichtendahl described what being transgender was like before lawmakers added gender identity to the list of protected classes in 2007. She worked at her first job out of college in 2006, and feared her gender identity would cause her to lose that job.

But then, Wichtendahl said, something “unexpected and amazing” happened. Gov. Chet Culver and lawmakers from both parties enshrined protections for gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

“It was a moment that not only inspired hope, but pride and love for this great state that we all call home,” Wichtendahl said.

Later in her remarks, Wichtendahl described how, after transitioning, a landlord evicted her and her three-year-old son for no stated reason.

“Have you ever had to look into your three-year old's eyes and explain to him why you don't have a house anymore, to have to explain to him why you're now living with strangers and what happened to his room and all his toys?” Wichtendahl said.

”Do you know the humiliation of having to lose your home?”

“This bill revokes protections to our jobs, our homes and our ability to access credit. In other words, it deprives us of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I bring this up because the purpose of this bill, and the purpose of every anti-trans bill, is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence. The sum total of every anti-trans and anti LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal, to force us back into the closet,” Wichtendahl said.

Wichtendahl told of growing up in rural Iowa with two loving, strong and supportive parents. She attended a Lutheran School until eighth grade and spent summers with her grandparents in Kossuth County. But for years, Wichtendahl knew inside that she is a girl.

“I transitioned to save my life. Because, truth be told, if culture or upbringing determined a person's orientation or gender identity, I should be the straightest person in any room,” Wichtendahl told the House.

“I transitioned because I wanted to have, keep having those deep, meaningful conversations with my mother. I transitioned because I wanted to keep playing video games with my father. I transitioned because I wanted to keep going to concerts with my sister. And I transitioned because I wanted to be a parent to my son and to see him grow up,” said Wichtendahl, who contemplated suicide.

“If we want jobs or a place to live, we have to go back, is what they are telling us,” Wichtendahl said. “Because the authors of these bills, wish us every harm. If we take our own lives because of our lives being made impossible, they do not care. If we end up homeless and would die on the street, they will happily step over our bodies.”

In the end, she pleaded for her Republican colleagues who support the bill to turn back.

“Draw the line in the sand and say that civil rights are in Iowa are enshrined and protected, and let us get back to the people's business. Let us work to make Iowa the place where people move to instead of flee from, and a place in Iowa where all of our dreams come true, a place where we live our highest values, our liberties, we prize and our rights we will maintain,” Wichtendahl said.

With that, her Democratic colleagues and people assembled in the galleries rose to give Wichtendahl a standing ovation. No one cared they were breaking House rules of decorum.

But her plea fell on deaf ears. Some Republicans did vote no, but not enough. The bill passed the House and Senate and Gov. Kim Reynolds will sign it. Iowa will become the first state to rescind protection from a protected class. It’s a dark moment in our history.

Wichtendahl fought until the end. Her words will endure. She and her people deserved far better from a state they call home.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com