‘Our rights we will regain’: Iowa LGTBQ advocates rally after removal of transgender protections

DES MOINES — LGBTQ Iowans shared a message of hope and perseverance in the face of legislative attacks against transgender Iowans.

About 150 people gathered Tuesday in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda in a show of solidarity during LGBTQ Day on the Hill.

Organized by LGBTQ advocacy organization One Iowa, the rally comes less than two weeks after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill removing gender identity as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The law protects Iowans against discrimination based on sex, race, disability and other characteristics in education, housing, employment, lending and public accommodations.

Speakers criticized GOP majorities in both chambers for a lack of integrity and their attacks on a small, vulnerable community. They emphasized the importance of standing up for and fighting for the rights of all Iowans, urging attendees to continue advocating for equality and justice.

Iowa is first state to remove a protected class from civil rights act

Senate File 418 — passed by Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate — strikes the definition of gender identity in state law and creates new legal definitions of male and female based on reproductive organs at birth. It also creates a new definition for gender, which would 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.”

The law takes effect July 1.

With its enactment, Iowa will become the first state in the nation to remove a protected class from a state’s civil rights act. The unprecedented move repeals protections for transgender Iowans against discrimination in housing, employment, lending, public accommodations and more.

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Gender identity was added to the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007 when Democrats controlled the governorship and both chambers of the Iowa Legislature. Today, Republicans have complete control of the state’s lawmaking process.

Supporters of the new law argue the 2007 change improperly “elevated” the rights of transgender individuals above those of others, and granted transgender women access to spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that should be protected for people who were assigned female at birth.

Reynolds, in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter), said the legislation “safeguards the rights of women and girls.”

“It’s common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women,” the governor said. “In fact, it’s necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls.”

Reynolds and Republican lawmakers argued that transgender protections in the Civil Rights Act endanger state laws they passed in recent years that ban gender transition care for children under the age of 18, prohibit transgender girls from playing in girls sports and prohibit transgender students from using school bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

“Before I signed this bill, the civil rights code blurred the biological line between the sexes,” Reynolds said. “It has also forced Iowa taxpayers to pay for gender reassignment surgeries, and that is unacceptable to me and it’s unacceptable to most Iowans.”

Twenty-three states — including Iowa — and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ rights organization. Additional states have adopted a federal legal framework that says gender identity discrimination is prohibited under federal sex-based employment protections.

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LGBTQ advocates: Iowa will be less competitive, less welcoming

Civil rights groups, faith leaders and community organizations said the legislation will make Iowa a less competitive, less welcoming place to live and work — erasing decades of progress and tarnishing Iowa’s legacy as a leader in civil rights.

Those gathered Tuesday at the Iowa Capitol sang “We Shall Overcome” and held signs that read “equality matters” and “trans rights are human rights” as speakers underscored the need for continued activism and community support.

Max Mowitz, a transgender Iowan and executive director of One Iowa, acknowledged the fear, frustration, anxiety and sense of loss felt by LGBTQ+ Iowans and their allies.

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“They are losing their rights. They are watching politicians use their lives as fodder for political debates,” Mowitz said. “They are being dehumanized left and right. We are being dehumanized left and right. Things feel unstable, uncertain and bleak.”

Resisting further attacks and restoring rights for transgender Iowans will require discipline and hope in the face of a “barrage of hostility” at both the state and federal level, he said.

“If you wanted me to tell you today that things are going to get better soon, you are in the wrong place,” Mowitz said. “I don't know when things are going to get better, but I do know that we all have a chance to be a part of this fight. … We will win. It's not a matter of if, but when.”

State Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, a Democrat from Hiawatha and the Iowa Legislature’s first openly transgender member, was met with cheers and boisterous applause during the rally. Wichtendahl gave an emotional rebuttal during debate on the House floor as she offered her personal story as a transgender woman.

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“This legislature chose to make a hollow lie out of our state motto that ‘Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain,’” Wichtendahl said. “I am here to say that this is not the end, because we will not be silenced. We will not be erased, and we will not be forced back into the closet.

“Because we are human beings, we are American citizens, we are Iowans and the cause of freedom is eternal and just, and we are here to fight it.”

She asked the crowd to carry the message to their lawmakers that "every single anti-LGBTQ bill is an admission of failure … to stand up top the promise of liberty and justice for all, and it is also an admission that your government isn't working to make your lives better," Wichtendahl said.

Hearkening back to the state’s motto, Wichtendahl led the crowd in chanting: "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will regain."

Alexandra Gray, a Black transgender woman and Des Moines-area performer, said "gender identity" and "trans" are dog whistles used to incite fear.

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"Trans women have been painted as predators in babies' and women's spaces, with the intent of both harming women and taking things from them like sports titles," Gray said. "… This entire battle is based on respectability politics, conservative religious dogma and the lack of education in scientific study."

She told the crowd to learn from the Civil Rights Movement and "look at what my ancestors had to fight for."

Jemma Bullock, 20, executive director of the Iowa Queer Student Alliance, said lawmakers supporting anti-LGBTQ legislation are "on the wrong side of history.“

“It baffles me every single time I go to this Capitol and have to demand that my rights not be stripped away,” Bullock said. “I have to demand that people who are my friends and family get to be loved and accepted and seen. And that is outrageous to me.”

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Bullock, who uses they/them pronouns, said the last two weeks have been a time of mourning for Iowa’s LGBTQ community, but they see a “beautiful and strong community who holds each other together."

“I know you might feel powerless, defeated, scared, mad and voiceless. That's understandable, but I look around and I can promise you that you are not alone,” they said. “You are loved. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are powerful. Your identity is valid and it cannot be shamed or defeated, or even legislated away. No laws can make you who you are not. … In each other, we will find a strength.”

Democratic lawmakers promised to continue fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ community and to hold the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature accountable for its actions.

"We should never be in the business of stripping rights," Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner, of Iowa City, said. "We should be in the business of expanding rights."

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, told those gathered: "I need you to know that you are loved.

“You are welcomed, and this is your Capitol, and you are always welcome here and in Iowa, regardless of what people in this building tell you,” Konfrst said. “We need you here."

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com