Iowa Legislature Votes to Eliminate Transgender Civil Rights Protections

Yesterday, both chambers of the Iowa Legislature passed SF 418, a bill that strips transgender people of protections under the state’s Civil Rights Act, effectively legalizing discrimination against them statewide. The legislation, which originated as HSB 242 in a subcommittee of the Iowa House Judiciary Committee, was split into two identical bills, HF 583 and SF 418. After both passed their respective chambers, the House version was merged into SF 418.

Both versions of the bill passed along party lines — 33-15 in the Senate and 60-35 in the House. The legislation now heads to Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ desk, where she is widely expected to sign it into law, given her track record of approving multiple anti-trans bills in recent years. However, she has not yet publicly indicated her decision. If signed, Iowa will become the first state in American history to remove a protected class from its Civil Rights Act, setting a dangerous precedent for broader rollbacks of anti-discrimination protections.

Rep. Steven Holt, a longtime opponent of transgender rights who spearheaded this legislation, told Iowa Public Radio ahead of the legislative votes that the bill’s purpose is to prevent courts from striking down future laws targeting transgender people. “This isn’t greenlighting discrimination at all,” Holt claimed, ignoring the fact that the bill explicitly erases transgender people from legal recognition and the extensive discrimination they already face. “It is protecting everyone’s rights, most particularly women, whose rights are being destroyed in their sports and in their changing facilities as a result of this elevated class status.” His argument directly contradicts a statement from Schultz to The Hill, where he admitted that Iowa had to choose between protecting sex or gender identity, but not both. “We had to pick one side or the other and not go halfway,” Schultz said, making clear that the bill is about exclusion, not neutrality.

The text of the bill is heavily influenced by the Women’s Bill of Rights, a measure drafted by the trans-exclusionary radical feminist organization Independent Women’s Voice. This group has played a key role in shaping dozens of anti-trans bills in recent years, according to a list compiled by legislative researcher Liz H. Salia. The Women’s Bill of Rights also served as the basis for a separate anti-trans bill introduced in Iowa last year by Governor Kim Reynolds.

While the hearing took place, protesters filled the halls of the Iowa State Capitol, holding signs warning that the bill “will kill” and chanting that the public “will never be divided.” Independent journalist Ryan Fae shared live updates on BlueSky, citing an anonymous source for safety. Security guards who spoke to the Des Moines Register estimated that over 1,500 protesters were inside the Capitol, with an additional 1,000 entering at some point throughout the day.

Iowa activist Jennifer Rose also provided real-time coverage on BlueSky, documenting statements from lawmakers during the House and Senate hearings. She reported that after the House vote concluded, protesters erupted in a mass shout of “NO,” while in the Senate, demonstrators gathered in the balcony, accusing Republican legislators of being Nazis.

A protester at the Capitol, granted anonymity for safety reasons, told Erin in the Morning, “It obviously serves a significant threat to the livelihoods of any trans person in the state, but if the protest today was any evidence, I’m sure we won’t go down quietly. The showing today from the trans community and allies was astounding. I’m new to Iowa here, but despite the circumstances we’re facing, I’m so proud of the community for being so strong and coming together like this. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people flee the state (and I don’t blame them), but the people staying are going to fight hard.”

Cathryn Oakley, the Human Rights Campaign senior director of legal policy, said of this vote in a statement given to Erin in the Morning: “Across the country, the American people have been clear: everyone, no matter who they are or how they identify, deserves the same freedoms and protections under the law. But this bill aims to do what no other state has done – pull civil rights protections out from under transgender people. For years, anti-equality forces have used state legislatures as their laboratories for the very assaults on freedom that are taking shape in Washington now. And they continue to test out new attacks, using LGBTQ+ people as a punching bag. We should be expanding freedoms and reinforcing protections for all people, not passing policies that strip people of their humanity. This bill is shameful and underscores what the right-wing hopes is the next chapter in their quest for control and power.”

Becky Tayler, the executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, said in a statement given to Erin in the Morning, “Today, the Iowa Legislature has taken the step to legalize discrimination against trans Iowans. Make no mistake — this bill will ultimately impact every protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act. By adding “separate but equal” doctrine into Iowa code, our lawmakers have taken our state back to the 1890’s. Instead of making history for protecting all Iowans — the Iowa Legislature has made our state the first to revoke civil rights from an entire class of citizens. This is a shameful day in the history of our state and Iowa Safe Schools will continue to stand for trans and nonbinary Iowans.”

One Iowa Executive Director, Max Mowitz, condemned the bill in a statement given to Erin in the Morning. “Governor Reynolds stands at a crossroads. We urge her to choose Iowa’s values of inclusion over discrimination by vetoing this bill. Signing it would put Iowa on the wrong side of history. If she allows this bill to become law, it will effectively make it legal to discriminate against transgender Iowans in nearly every aspect of life — where they live, where they work, and where they go to school. That would send a devastating message that transgender Iowans are not worthy of the same rights, dignity, and protections as their neighbors. No one should have to live in fear of being denied housing, fired from their job, or excluded from public life simply because of who they are. Transgender Iowans are part of every community in this state — our families, our workplaces, our schools, our places of worship. They deserve the same safety, stability, and opportunity as anyone else. If this bill becomes law, it will cause real harm, making daily life harder and more uncertain for countless Iowans who simply want to live openly and authentically. History will not look kindly on such a betrayal of civil rights.”

Transgender Rep. Aime Wichtendahl (D-Hiawatha) delivered powerful words condemning the bill and anti-trans discrimination just at the end of the hearing. “It pains me to be here today. It pains me to see how the rights of an entire group’s people can be so quickly and easily discarded. It pains me to hear the slander, and the fear leveled at the trans community — my community — my friends, and my family, people who just want to live their lives, to be themselves and to live free of fear. This is a fear that I have known.”

Watch her powerful speech here (at 2:07):

“The purpose of this bill, the purpose of every anti-trans bill, is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence,” she said. “The sum total of every anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal, to force us back into the closet. If we want jobs or a place to live, we have to go back, is what they’re telling us because the authors of these bills wish us every harm.”

This piece was republished with permission from Erin In The Morning.