Iowa has become the first U.S. state to remove gender identity as a protected class, the AP reported.
On Feb. 28, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that critics say will expose transgender people and other Iowans to discrimination in all aspects of daily life. The new law goes into effect July 1—the day after Pride Month. The statute also creates explicit legal definitions of female and male based on their reproductive organs at birth.
Five House Republicans joined all Democrats in the House and Senate in voting against the bill. Iowa state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl was the last Democrat to speak before the Feb. 27 vote, wiping away tears as she offered her personal story as a transgender woman, saying: “I transitioned to save my life.” And the legislative vote was not a quiet process, as hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates streamed into the Capitol rotunda.
The House Republican moving the bill on Feb. 27—state Rep. Steven Holt—said the legislature can remove protections as well as add them. Keenan Crow, director of policy and advocacy for the pro-LGBTQ+ group One Iowa, said, “We will pursue any legal options available to us.”
“This bill is not just an attack on transgender Iowans—it’s an assault on civil rights,” said National Black Justice Collective CEO & Executive Director Dr. David Johns in a statement that Windy City Times obtained. “Iowa is setting a devastating precedent that will embolden other states to strip protections from marginalized people. We must recognize these efforts for what they are: state-sanctioned discrimination.”