Iowa to be first in the nation to remove civil rights from a state law

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa House and Senate, working simultaneously Thursday, passed a bill removing gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. It is the first bill of the 2025 legislative session to reach Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the Senate voted 33-15 and the House 60-36 in favor of Senate File 418, a bill that would amend parts of Iowa Code providing protections against discrimination in areas like employment, housing, public accommodations and education, to no longer include “gender identity” from these civil rights sections.

The bill would also change language defining “sex” and “gender” in Iowa law and would remove the ability for a transgender person to change the sex designated on their birth certificate after receiving gender-affirming surgery or other related treatment from a licensed medical provider.

Hundreds gathered in the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol Feb. 27, 2025, protesting legislation to remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act that lawmakers are expected to debate on the floor Thursday. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Hundreds of Iowans filled the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol, chanting and holding signs that called for lawmakers to reject the measure. Some opponents to the legislation were removed from chamber galleries for disruptive actions.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, said gender identity protections added in 2007 to the Iowa Civil Rights Act conflict with laws passed by Republican lawmakers in recent years on issues like transgender women competing in women’s sports and the ability of transgender people to use school bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, and repealing these civil rights protections was a necessary step to ensure such laws can survive court challenges.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Iowa would also be in a unique position in being the first state in the nation to strip a group of people of their protected class status in a  state civil rights code. Currently, there are 23 states, including Iowa, with state protections against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner said Iowa lawmakers were elected to pass laws for Iowa, and that comparisons should not be made on the basis of other states’ civil rights code. Weiner said this legislation will not stop legal challenges to other Iowa laws related to transgender people. Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, the first transgender Iowan elected to the Legislature, shared her story of facing discrimination in her business career and in housing after coming out as transgender.

Democrats introduced amendments in both chambers that would change sections of the bill specifically removing “gender identity” from protections related to access to credit, housing and employment. All of the amendments were voted down. Schultz called for the Senate to resist these amendments because it would create conflicts within Iowa Code. An amendment introduced by 10 House Republicans removing sections of the bill repealing bans on gender identity discrimination for housing and credit was withdrawn.

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said people who used the state’s motto, “our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain” to criticize the measure should ask whether they believed women are entitled to these rights and liberties as well. Gov. Reynolds did not respond to requests for comment on whether she plans to sign the legislation. However, there were multiple discussions at the Statehouse signaling that Reynolds supported the move to remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. One Iowa, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, stated in a news release from late January that “multiple independent sources” confirmed the governor was considering introducing such legislation.

If the measure is signed into law, it will likely face legal challenges.