(This story has been updated to include new information.)
Iowa Republicans have introduced a wide-ranging bill that would remove protections against discrimination for transgender people from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The measure, House Study Bill 242, was filed Thursday. In addition to removing gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, the bill would make a range of changes to state law, including requiring birth certificates to reflect an Iowan’s sex at birth and redefining “sex” to mean “the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth.”
Civil rights and LGBTQ rights groups have been on high alert for weeks, warning Iowans of the possibility that such legislation could be introduced.
“This is the worst bill we have ever seen come out of the Iowa Legislature, and that is a high bar,” said Max Mowitz, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group One Iowa. “This would wreak havoc on the lives of transgender people across the state, upending their ability to do basic things like rent an apartment or get a credit card.”
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said the gender identity protections in the Iowa Civil Rights Act could threaten Republican-backed legislation in recent years banning transgender youth under 18 from receiving gender-affirming medical care, restricting transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity and banning transgender women and girls from competing in female sports.
“We’re the only state that has done these things to protect women’s sports and their facilities and all these things while still having gender identity as a protected class in code,” Holt said. “And we don’t see how those things can cohabitate. They’re going to clash, and at some point, all of those things that we’ve done could be at risk.”
Bill redefines ‘male’ and ‘female’ in Iowa law
The bill defines “female” as “an individual who has, had, will have through the course of normal development, or would have but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, a reproductive system that at some point produces ova.”
The legislation defines “male” as “an individual who has, had, will have through the course of normal development, or would have but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, a reproductive system that at some point produces sperm.”
It defines “mother” as “a parent who is female” and “father” as “a parent who is male.”
The bill also says “the term ‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical.'”
And it says “separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.”
The bill’s definitions would bar transgender women from being able to access women’s bathrooms, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers and locker rooms and from being housed in women’s prisons or other detention facilities.
LGBTQ advocacy groups call the bill ‘unbelievably cruel’
Groups representing LGBTQ Iowans strongly denounced the bill in statements Thursday night.
“HSB 242 subverts the constitutional guarantees of equality under the law and seeks to push trans Iowans back into the shadows,” Becky Tayler, executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, said in a news release. “This bill sends a message that trans Iowans aren’t welcome in their own state. We will not stand by while the Iowa Legislature seeks to erase the students we serve.”
Mowitz said the bill defines transgender Iowans “out of existence.”
“This bill is pointless, unnecessary, and unbelievably cruel,” Mowitz said. “Transgender Iowans are our friends, our neighbors and our coworkers. We deserve the same fundamental rights, dignity and respect as anyone else. This legislation will not improve the life of a single Iowan, but it will undoubtedly make the lives of transgender Iowans worse. We call on legislators to reject this proposal and get back to work on policies that make our state better for everyone.”
Birth certificates would have to reflect Iowans’ sex at birth
The bill would require Iowans’ birth certificates to list their sex as either male or female.
The bill says if the child’s sex cannot be determined at birth, the parents would be allowed up to six months to file the child’s birth certificate, “to allow parents to obtain any diagnosis or testing from a health care provider.”
And it would strike a section from current law allowing a transgender person who transitions to receive a new birth certificate if they receive a notarized affidavit from a doctor stating their sex has been changed.
Any government in Iowa that gathers health data, including state agencies, cities, counties and schools would have to identify a person as either male or female.
Republicans point to court rulings allowing Medicaid to cover gender-affirming surgeries
Holt pointed to an Iowa court case where in 2021 a judge ruled in favor of two transgender plaintiffs who challenged a Health and Human Services rule barring Medicaid coverage for gender transition procedures. The Iowa Supreme Court dismissed the state’s appeal in 2023, allowing Medicaid to continue covering gender-affirming surgeries.
“The numbers are exponentially growing in terms of the number of individuals that are seeking these procedures,” Holt said. “And we do not believe that Iowans should have to be paying for those procedures.”
Between 2021 and mid-2024, state data show 190 Medicaid members received gender-affirming surgery, costing Iowa Medicaid a total of $643,580.
More: A trans Iowan sued the state for Medicaid coverage of his surgery; he got it 5 years later
Holt said he believes the state has now spent more than $1 million on the procedures.
The Iowa Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ancestry, disability and gender identity. Lawmakers added the protections for gender identity in 2007, when Democrats held the Iowa Legislature and governor’s office.
People who fall under one of the protected classes in the civil rights law are protected from discrimination in employment, wages, public accommodations, housing, education and credit practices.
Holt said he believes transgender Iowans will still receive protections from employment and housing discrimination because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. In that case, the court found that gay, lesbian and transgender workers are protected by Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, which bars employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex and religion.
“We do not believe that the transgender community will lose any protections,” Holt said. “But what will happen is that we will protect those things that we have done to try to protect women’s sports, their locker rooms, their changing facilities, and stop Iowa taxpayer money going to pay for these gender reassignment procedures for Medicaid patients and for people that are in our correctional facilities.”
Speaker Pat Grassley says the bill will receive ‘full consideration’ from House Republicans
Legislation removing gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act has been introduced in the past, but has never advanced.
Last year, for the first time, House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on a bill that would have removed gender identity as a protected class under the civil rights law. But the three subcommittee members unanimously declined to advance the bill, killing it for the year.
House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said in a statement that “we have decided it is time to give this bill the full consideration of the Iowa House Republican caucus.”
“Because of a court decision citing gender identity in Iowa code, taxpayers have been paying for hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgeries for Iowans on Medicaid,” Grassley said. “Additionally, we have recently passed common sense protections regarding girls’ sports, locker rooms, and restrooms and prohibiting sex reassignment surgeries on minors. These are common sense policies Iowans have begged us to take action on and supported in subsequent elections. It has become clear because of that court decision, that those popular policies are at risk as long as gender identity remains specified in the civil rights code.”
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa GOP bill would end civil rights protections for gender identity
