Iowa now allows anti-transgender discrimination

courtesy pictured

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.

Christopher Wiggins

Christopher Wiggins is The Advocate’s senior national reporter in Washington, D.C., covering the intersection of public policy and politics with LGBTQ+ lives, including The White House, U.S. Congress, Supreme Court, and federal agencies. He has written multiple cover story profiles for The Advocate’s print magazine, profiling figures like Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, longtime LGBTQ+ ally Vice President Kamala Harris, and ABC Good Morning America Weekend anchor Gio Benitez. Wiggins is committed to amplifying untold stories, especially as the second Trump administration’s policies impact LGBTQ+ (and particularly transgender) rights, and can be reached at christopher.wiggins@equalpride.com or on BlueSky at cwnewser.bsky.social; whistleblowers can securely contact him on Signal at cwdc.98.

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Christopher Wiggins

July 01 2025 12:11 PM EST

July 01 2025 12:15 PM EST

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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.

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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.