Iowa’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed a law eliminating state civil rights protections for transgender individuals, marking Iowa as the first state to do so. The bill, backed by Republicans and passed by large margins amid protests, defines sex based on anatomy at birth and removes gender identity from protected status. Reynolds argues the law safeguards the rights of women and girls, while critics warn it creates a caste system and exposes transgender citizens to discrimination. The move aligns with broader national trends under the Trump administration to restrict transgender rights, despite existing protections for gay and lesbian individuals in Iowa.
Iowa’s Republican governor enacted a law on Friday that dismantles state civil rights protections for transgender individuals, marking the state as the first to withdraw such extensive and specific protections, according to advocates for L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
Governor Kim Reynolds, who has previously endorsed laws limiting gender-transition treatments for minors and the sports participation of transgender women, stated in a video announcement that “before I signed this bill, the Civil Rights Code blurred the biological line between the sexes.”
The bill, supported by Republicans, was approved by significant margins in both legislative chambers despite objections voiced at the State Capitol and warnings from Democrats about potential discrimination and harassment following its enactment.
“This bill creates a caste system where one group of people, Iowa trans citizens, do not have the same set of rights that we have,” remarked State Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat, during a debate over the legislation on Thursday.
The adoption of the Iowa legislation coincides with actions from President Trump’s administration aimed at restricting national official recognition of transgender identity. The administration has pursued measures to cut funding for hospitals providing gender-transition treatments to minors, prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports, exclude openly transgender people from military service, mandate that transgender women inmates in federal prisons be housed with men, and cease the reflection of transgender individuals’ gender identities on passports.
The Iowa law establishes sex based on a person’s birth anatomy, eliminating gender identity from the list of protected groups shielded from discrimination by employers, businesses, and landlords. However, it maintains discrimination protections for gay and lesbian individuals, which were enacted 18 years prior as part of the same state legislation that extended protections for gender identity.
In her address regarding the law, Ms. Reynolds asserted that “we all agree that every Iowan, without exception, deserves respect and dignity.” She expressed her belief that the new law “safeguards the rights of women and girls.”
“It is common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women,” the governor stated. “In fact, it is necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls.”
At the federal level, the Supreme Court ruled several years ago that workplace discrimination against gay and transgender individuals is unlawful under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, attempts by Democrats in Congress to broaden the range of these protections beyond the workplace have not succeeded.
More than 20 states, predominantly led by Democrats, have established explicit employment discrimination protections for transgender individuals, according to data gathered by the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank supporting L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
Iowa implemented civil rights protections for transgender people in 2007 during a markedly different political climate. Democrats, who currently find themselves outnumbered in Des Moines, held control over both legislative chambers and the governor’s office at that time.
“We send a message that Iowa is a welcoming place that values each of its citizens, whether it’s in the neighborhood or in the workplace,” Governor Chet Culver stated at the signing of the protections into law.
Iowa supported Barack Obama in two presidential elections, but Trump has secured the state in the last three elections, including winning by a 13-point margin in 2024. Republicans have also consolidated significant majorities in the state legislature.
Ms. Reynolds and the Republican-led Legislature have leveraged their authority to encode conservative priorities into Iowa law, including restrictions on abortion, banning school library books deemed sexually explicit, and enabling state-level immigration enforcement.
Democrats have struggled to mount a counter-offensive. In a speech on the floor this week, State Representative Aime Wichtendahl, a transgender Democrat, shared, “I transitioned to save my life,” urging her colleagues to reject the revisions to the state’s civil rights code.
“This bill revokes protections to our jobs, our homes and our ability to access credit,” Ms. Wichtendahl remarked. “In other words, it deprives us of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Republicans articulated concerns that other state laws restricting transgender individuals, including those concerning sports participation and gender-transition treatments for minors, might face legal challenges if the civil rights provisions for gender identity persisted.
“All these legal protections are at risk due to the inclusion of the words ‘gender identity’ in our code,” commented State Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican supporter of the bill, on Thursday.
Amy Harmon contributed reporting.