(Radio Iowa) – The Ames City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and education based on someone’s gender identity. Iowa removed gender identity from its civil rights law last year and the legislature is considering a bill to ban local governments from adopting civil rights protections beyond the state civil rights act. Ames Council member Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen says she does not want to bend to what she sees as bullying behavior.

“I think as we face a state government that is increasingly inserting its control of our every move, I believe that it is important to makes Ames’ stance on this issue clear,” she says. The ordinance passed 5-1 with council member Tim Gartin was the only no vote.“At a time when cities desperately need to reset the relationship with the legislature who holds all the cards with respect to property taxes, I think it would be prudent given the interest they have in at least exploring this bill, to pause our efforts on this to see what the legislature does,” Gartin says.

Other council members said it was important to make the city’s stance on gender identity clear, even if the legislature’s bill becomes law. The city’s new ordinance goes into effect Saturday.