(DES MOINES, IOWA) — Iowa lawmakers voted Thursday to strike gender identity from state civil rights protections.
The state’s civil rights law currently protects against discrimination in the workplace, school, accommodations, housing and more based on someone’s “age, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, or disability.”
The recent legislation on gender identity quickly made its way through the legislature, though not without facing large protests from critics who believe the bill will open up further discrimination against transgender people.
Transgender Americans — who are estimated to make up less than 1% of the U.S. population over the age of 13 — have been the target of hundreds of Republican-backed bills each year in recent years.
The new Iowa bill is one of more than 450 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. being tracked this year by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Supporters of the legislation came to the Thursday hearing with a plethora of arguments — including concerns about religious freedoms, privacy in public accommodations and the belief that there are only two sexes.
“It would not be wise on the slippery slope of the sand using fluid definitions and feelings. Instead, let’s courageously build it on the tested, immovable foundations of fixed endings and historical truth,” said one community member.
The bill notes an exception for people who experience differences or disorders in sexual development — sometimes known as intersex — as covered by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Opponents say that the legislation targets a small, vulnerable population and will worsen discrimination often faced by transgender people.
One community member, who said they were an Iowa educated and trained family medicine physician, said the lives of their patients depend on the outcome of the bill.
“As a doctor, I see firsthand how social determinants like stable housing, employment and access to public spaces are critical to my patients’ health,” they said. “The protections in our Civil Rights Code are not abstract. They are lifelines. When a person is denied housing because of their gender identity, they face higher risks of homelessness, violence and worsened physical and mental health.”
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