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Transgender Iowans’ legal protections would be weakened by bill passed by Republicans
Republican lawmakers in the Iowa Legislature approved a bill that would remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act; Gov. Kim Reynolds must now decide whether to sign it into law
Feb. 27, 2025 4:36 pm, Updated: Mar. 4, 2025 4:13 pm
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DES MOINES — Inside a packed and emotionally charged Iowa Capitol, Republican state lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that weakens legal protections for transgender Iowans, sending the bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Reynolds’ office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but it appeared likely she would sign into law the measure that removes gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, where it has appeared for nearly two decades.
The Iowa Civil Rights Act provides legal protection for discrimination against protected classes regarding housing, employment, education, public services and accommodations, banking and more.
If Reynolds signs the bill into law, Iowa will become the first U.S. state to remove a protected class from a state’s civil code.
Gender identity and sexual orientation were placed in the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007, when Democrats controlled the Iowa Legislature and the governor’s office. Currently, Republican majorities give the GOP full control of the state lawmaking process.
Many hundreds of people packed Thursday into the Iowa Capitol, creating a shoulder-to-shoulder mass of humanity in the rotunda, the vast majority of the protesters expressing staunch opposition to the legislation. For hours, they chanted and sang — first during a public hearing on the bill in the morning and then while lawmakers debated the proposal in the afternoon.
“We are trans, bi, queer together; and we are singing, singing for our lives,” one short song’s lyrics said.
Emotions ran high later Thursday when the bills were passed by both the Senate and House.
After the Senate vote, an individual watching from the gallery began angrily yelling and shouting obscenities at legislators. The individual refused to move and was carried out of the gallery by multiple Iowa State Patrol officers. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said that Ryan Maher, 37, was charged with one count of interference with official acts and was booked into jail.
After the House vote, the gallery erupted with jeers and more shouts of obscenities.
What the bill does
In addition to eliminating legal protections granted by the inclusion of gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, the bill, if signed by Reynolds, also would:
- Strike the definition of gender identity in state law;
- Create a new section in state law to define “sex and related terms,” and define “female” as an individual who has, will have or would have “but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident,” a reproductive system that produces ova and “male” as an individual who produces sperm;
- State that the term “equal” does not mean “same” or “identical” and that “separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.” The language echoes that associated with the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which declared segregation on the basis of race to be legal;
- Require all state and local government data collection to identify individuals as either male or female;
- Eliminate the ability for transgender Iowans to change their birth certificate. Current law allows this if the person’s doctor certifies that their sex has changed due to surgery or other treatment.
The bill was fast-tracked through the legislative process. It was approved by both chambers Thursday, one week after the bill was made public.
Lawmakers debate the impact
Majority party Republicans established hard deadlines for debate Thursday. Both chambers debated the bill for roughly three hours before voting.
Advocates for the bill say it is needed because the legal protections for transgender Iowans guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act have made some spaces — like bathrooms and locker rooms — more dangerous for women.
Attorneys, school safety advocates, legal experts and civil rights activists, however, note there is a lack of documented evidence in Iowa of transgender individuals, or men pretending to be transgender, harassing or attacking women in shelters, locker rooms, restrooms or other places.
Republican lawmakers also have argued that transgender protections in the Civil Rights Act endanger state laws they passed in recent years that ban gender transition care for minors, prohibit transgender girls from playing in girls sports and prohibit transgender students from using school bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
Supporters of the legislation also pointed to the Iowa courts’ determination in 2023 that the state’s attempt to ban Medicaid coverage for gender transition surgery was unconstitutional. A judge cited the inclusion of gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Act in his ruling.
Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison who managed the bill in the House, said the legislation is necessary to protect women and uphold laws involving transgender individuals in the state, adding that some already are facing legal challenges based on the current civil rights protections.
“If efforts to stop taxpayer funding of sexually assigned procedures were struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court because of the protecting class status, we can only conclude that our laws to protect women's sports, changing facilities and bathrooms, their safety and prohibits exchange procedures on minors would suffer the same fate,” Holt said. “Democrats do not want to talk about the reality of the erasing of women as a result of gender identity based on feelings being elevated to a protected class status in the Iowa code.”
Republicans also pointed out that fewer than half of U.S. states have gender identity in their civil rights acts. Iowa is among 23 states that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights.
Sen. Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig who managed the bill in the Senate, said he had not seen any data that indicated individuals are worse off in the states that do not have gender identity in their acts.
“We look at the downside of removing the word, and we look at the states that don’t have this in their language, there are people, including this population, that are moving to those states. It’s not a horrible problem,” Schultz said after the Senate debate.
According to research from the liberal-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, transgender Americans and LGBTQ+ people in general report better mental and physical health in states whose laws protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. One example from the research, a spokeswoman for the group said, showed that transgender veterans living in states with protections are “26 percent less likely to have a bipolar disorder and 43 percent less likely to engage in self-harm.”
Democrats in both chambers proposed amendments that would have removed the strike outs of gender identity in sections of the bill involving employment, finances and housing. Republicans rejected the amendments.
Many Democrats pointed out that Iowa would become the first state to remove a protected class from its civil code.
“I don’t want to hear about freedom ever again,” said Rep. Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights, the Democratic leader in the House.
“We are taking away the freedom of our fellow Iowans to live the lives they want to live. I don’t want to hear about freedom. Don’t tell us we’re overreacting and everything will be fine,” she said.
Some Democrats expressed anger during debate toward Republicans who supported the bill, including Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines.
“What have (transgender Iowans) ever done to you?” Bisignano asked. “Most of you don’t even know somebody who’s transgender. You don’t even know them. But you hate them. You have to hate them, because you cannot do what you’re doing today if you didn’t.”
Bisignano also called support for the bill un-Christian. “Shame on you. Shame on all of you Christians (who support the bill),” he said.
Sen. Liz Bennett, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who describes herself as queer, charged that the true goal of the legislation’s supporters is to get rid of transgender people in Iowa.
“They know the confusion, strife and danger this will cause for trans people. But that’s the point: Creating a world so dangerous that trans people are erased one way or the other, by fear, self-harm, or violence by others,” Bennett said.
Only transgender state lawmaker speaks
Near the end of debate, Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, a Democrat from Hiawatha and the Iowa Legislature’s first openly transgender member, said gender identity protections in the Iowa Civil Rights Act helped save her from discrimination, including by keeping her home and her job. She shared that she considered taking her life before she transitioned.
“I thought about ending it all by stepping in front of a train. I transitioned to save my life,” Wichtendahl said as she teared up. “I want to ask the authors of this bill, have you ever had to look into your 3-year-old’s eyes and explain to them 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?”
How they voted
Lawmakers passed the Senate bill, Senate File 418, on a party-line, 33-15 vote with all Republicans voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against it.
Five Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against House File 583 in the House. The five Republican “no” votes came from Reps. Michael Bergan of Dorchester, Brian Lohse of Bondurant, Norlin Mommsen of DeWitt, David Sieck of Glenwood and Austin Harris of Moulton, who is gay.
Concerns aired at public hearing
Ahead of the floor debates, individuals addressed the legislation during a 90-minute public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
Multiple LGBTQ+ advocates and transgender Iowans expressed fear and concern that removing gender identity from the act would open the door to discrimination toward transgender individuals in the state.
Seventeen-year-old Kayde Martin, who plans to attend the University of Northern Iowa in the fall, said as a trans man, he fears facing discrimination when looking for housing.
“I hope to live independently, without your discrimination simply because of who I am,” Martin said. “I’ve heard some people talk about women’s rights that I ask you all, why do women’s rights only seem to be defended when it is used to be against the transgender community?
“Please don’t take my rights away simply because you disagree with who I am.”
Taylor Layden of Urbandale said she is concerned with how the legislation would impact her 20-month-old intersex daughter, Eloise, if she wants to identify as a male when she gets older.
“I am terrified of what the future may hold for my daughter because of things beyond her control,” Layden said. “Because of her genetic variance and intersex traits, I don’t know what gender Eloise will identify with when she gets older, and as much as I love having a baby girl, I will cherish and love and protect my child no matter how she identifies. I fear that the world will not be so accepting and loving.”
Amber Williams, representing Inspired Life, a faith based advocacy group based in Cedar Falls, said this legislation helps safeguard the rights women have gained.
“For generations, women have fought for the rights to privacy, security and the ability to provide the spaces designed specifically for us. Restrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters and women’s sports exist to protect the unique vulnerabilities of women,” Williams said.
Tom Barton of The Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com
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