Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation Friday making the state the first in the U.S. to remove gender identity protections from its civil rights code, a move that critics say will leave transgender individuals vulnerable to discrimination. The law, set to take effect on July 1, revises Iowa's Civil Rights Act by eliminating gender identity as a protected category while reinforcing a legal definition of sex based on reproductive organs at birth.
The measure passed through the Republican-controlled state legislature in just over a week, with five House Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. Reynolds, in a video statement, defended her decision, calling the law "common sense" and arguing that the previous civil rights code "blurred the biological line between the sexes." She added, "It's necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls."
Iowa originally added gender identity protections to its civil rights code in 2007 under a Democratic-controlled legislature, making it one of the first states to explicitly include such protections. Now, it becomes the first state to repeal them, a reversal that LGBTQ+ advocates say could lead to increased discrimination in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations.
Keenan Crow, director of policy and advocacy for One Iowa, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, said the group is exploring legal options. The vagueness of the bill makes it "hard to determine where the enforcement is going to come from. We will pursue any legal options available to us," Crow said.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday, chanting, "No hate in our state" and holding signs reading "Trans rights are human rights." The final passage of the bill drew an emotional response from some lawmakers. Iowa state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, the first openly transgender legislator in the state, wiped away tears as she spoke on the House floor. "The purpose of this bill and the purpose of every anti-trans bill is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence," Wichtendahl said. "The sum total of every anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal."
The law follows President Donald Trump's executive order formalizing a federal definition of sex as strictly male or female, an initiative that has led to similar legislative efforts in Republican-led states. On Thursday, Trump praised the Iowa bill on Truth Social, writing, "Iowa, a beautiful state that I have won BIG every time, has a Bill to remove Radical Gender Ideology from their Laws... Iowa should follow the lead of my Executive Order, saying there are only two genders, and pass this Bill - AS FAST AS POSSIBLE."
While not every state has gender identity protections in its civil rights laws, Iowa is the first to actively remove them. The bill also defines male and female based on reproductive organs at birth, rejecting the concept of gender transition. It maintains protections against discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, and disability status.
Opponents argue that the law could lead to legal challenges and increased scrutiny over its impact on transgender individuals in areas such as healthcare and education. Iowa's Supreme Court has previously ruled that sex discrimination does not include gender identity, a stance that Republican lawmakers cited in defense of the bill. Rep. Steven Holt, who led the bill's advancement in the House, stated that if the Legislature can add protections, it can remove them.
