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Iowa made history Friday by becoming the first state to eliminate civil rights protections for transgender individuals.
Governor Kim Reynolds enacted legislation removing gender identity from protected status categories, eliminating anti-discrimination safeguards in areas including housing, employment, and public spaces.
Defending the measure, Reynolds characterized it as protecting women’s and girls’ rights, while acknowledging its controversial nature.
“It’s common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it’s necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls,” the Republican said, adding that the previous civil rights code “blurred the biological line between the sexes.”
🔥🔥A major W for women. Iowa cuts trans protections from civil rights code barring them from women’s spaces and sports. We need more states to follow. Finally, someone is protecting women from these dress wearing predators. pic.twitter.com/k4euEzG3SD
— Boston_Mom (@Boston_Terf) March 1, 2025
The state’s Civil Rights Act of 1965 initially excluded gender identity and sexual orientation protections, which were later incorporated in 2007 through bipartisan efforts.
The legislation establishes strict legal definitions of male and female based on birth anatomy, effectively nullifying transgender identity and gender transition concepts.
This legislation aligns with recent federal actions, including President Trump’s executive order last month defining only two sexes.
Trump endorsed the measure before its passage, describing it on Truth Social as a rejection of “Radical Gender Ideology.”
The rapidly-processed law, effective July 1, passed just days after its introduction.
The final legislative vote saw five Republicans breaking ranks to join Democrats in opposition, resulting in a 60-36 approval.
If you’re not familiar with what just happened in Iowa, they took gender identity out of their civil rights legislation, ensuring that young girls will no longer be targeted by mentally ill men. https://t.co/OkIhgcUk2Z
— Even More Pissed Off Patriot (@POdPatriot) March 1, 2025
Iowa’s first openly transgender legislator, Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, delivered an emotional speech urging colleagues to reject the bill, tearfully sharing that she “transitioned to save my life.”
“The purpose of this bill and the purpose of every anti-trans bill is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence,” Wichtendahl said. “The sum total of every anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal.”
Post-vote demonstrations filled the Capitol rotunda with protesters carrying signs promoting trans rights and opposing state-sanctioned discrimination.
While Iowa leads in reversing transgender civil rights, similar legislative efforts are emerging elsewhere, including West Virginia’s proposal to classify “transgenderism as a mental disorder.”
