By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
The Republican-led state is the first in the nation to take protections related to gender identity out of its civil rights code.
Iowa has become the first state in the nation to strip gender identity protections from its civil rights code in a historic rollback that legal experts and advocates warn will leave transgender and nonbinary residents vulnerable to discrimination.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in February and effective as of Tuesday, removes gender identity as a protected class under state law and defines sex strictly as male or female based on a person’s reproductive anatomy at birth, according to Iowa ABC affiliate KCRG. Iowa Public Radio reports that the law also eliminates the process for changing sex markers on Iowa birth certificates and bans transgender women from women’s public restrooms, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, and prisons.
Related: Iowa passes bill stripping civil rights protections for transgender people, send to governor
For many transgender Iowans, the consequences feel existential. “Anytime someone has to check your ID and they see that the gender marker doesn’t match the appearance, then that opens up hostility, discrimination as possibilities,” state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, Iowa’s first openly transgender lawmaker, told the Associated Press.
Legal experts say the shift creates confusion and gaps. While federal protections exist under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, those apply only to employers with 15 or more workers, leaving many smaller Iowa businesses outside the scope of federal law, according to the ACLU of Iowa, Iowa Public Radio reports.
Related: Transphobic discrimination legalized in Iowa
Advocates say fear is already prompting some to leave the state. A separate law that took effect Tuesday cuts Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, the AP reports.
For trans Iowans, the law signals not just a loss of legal protection, but a deepening sense of alienation in the state they call home.
