(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House and Senate both passed the bill Thursday that removes the words gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
Both bodies debated the bill for much of the afternoon before the votes. Democratic Senator Liz Bennett of Cedar Rapids says this will make Iowa the first state to strip citizens of civil rights. She says it creates a world so hostile to those that trans or non-gender-conforming people can’t exist.
Republican Representative Steven Holt from Denison says having gender identity in the civil rights codes hurts women and doesn’t protect their rights. He says having the 2007 law applied to gender identity issues has been a constant generator of unpredictable and bizarre lawsuits and disputes. “No one knows what to do, and it winds up protecting no one,” he says. The bill now goes to Governor Kim Reynolds.
