The Register’s opinion writer is Lucas Grundmeier.
The Iowa Legislature won’t change who these transgender Iowans are if it successfully changes Iowa law to remove civil rights protections for them and instead label them “disabled.”
Because that is their inherent sense of who they are, they will still identify differently from the gender that was assigned to them at birth. Votes from lawmakers and personal attacks won’t change that.
Real threats are the main reason Iowans are raising concerns about the hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol on House File 2082. Of course, the government can change a lot of other things.
Other recent laws that have limited trans Iowans’ access to sports, potentially life-saving medical care, and the representation of their lives in academic materials have been both dangerous and misguided. However, this bill has a wider scope and does not contain the fig leaf of concern for children’s welfare that proponents vehemently claimed drove the earlier laws.
Discrimination based on guarded characteristics in employment, housing, education, financing, and other areas is prohibited by Iowa’s civil rights law. Denying someone a mortgage or lease because they are trans is currently against the law. That may change with House File 2082. It would be acceptable to love.
Why House File 2082 is important
In a bipartisan bill passed in 2007, sexual orientation and gender identification were added as secured groups. The law’s privileges for gay and lesbian Iowans garnered the most attention at the time, and it even contained a prohibition against supporting same-sex unions.
Since then, numerous ideas to repeal that rule have been made. Any idea can be put forth by just one legislator, and House File 2082’s sponsor, Rep. Jeff Shipley of Fairfield, regularly drafts legislation to do stuff like eliminate the requirement for vaccinations and make psychedelic drugs legal. Every year, both the general public and legislative leaders essentially ignore many dramatic proposals. The first indication that leaders, in this case, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Steve Holt, a Denison Republican, may help an idea to be seriously considered is the creation of the three-person committee and the permission of its head to call for hearings. This is the first instance of a bill to eliminate gender identification from civil rights legislation.
A hearing on a related bill was not permitted by Holt in 2020. He admitted to the Register that he was still worried but wanted to “have the talk.” Given that the Iowa bill would designate “any condition related to a gender identity disorder” as one of the disabilities, he asserted that transgender Iowans would continue to enjoy other federal legal protections and expressed interest in providing them with disability rights. That wouldn’t be beneficial to anyone, according to a lobbyist for the LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa.
In a determined statement, One Iowa Action Executive Director Courtney Reyes stated that no group of Iowans may be demoted to second-class status.
What to expect at the hearing
Republicans Charley Thomson, a lawyer from north Iowa, John Wills, the third-ranking Republican in the House, and Democrat Sami Scheetz of Cedar Rapids make up the committee. Public speakers are permitted at the gathering, but only in person from Room 102 on the Statehouse’s second floor. Anyone can access the internet to view.
The possible outcome: Lobbyists who support enshrining traditional Christian viewpoints in the law will applaud Shipley for his bravery and assert that they are standing up for the truth in front of sizable groups of medical professionals. Some of those health professionals may provide testimony regarding the data that backs up their claims. Shipley is likely to present a rambling defense of the legislation. Some Iowans will talk about their own experiences and worries about the bill’s potential repercussions.
It’s not uncommon for the majority-party staff to decide at a committee that it is not appropriate to advance an idea, but typically on these issues, the two Republicans vote to do so” to continue the conversation,” while the Democrat votes against.
Iowans who want to oppose this intentional hurt may contact Thomson, Wills, Scheetz, as well as Holt, who decides whether his committee will ultimately take up the act, and their own lawmakers. More information is above.
Rules like this force Iowans to flee or endure hardship
Trans Iowans and their families have left the state precisely because of bills like this. One such family is Nia Chiaramonte, one of my high school peers. They directly claim that the actions of the Legislature caused them to leave Indianola for the East Coast in a Hulu video about them.
It’s possible that other transgender Iowans lack the resources to relocate. They might have to deal with harassment and discrimination that are state-sponsored in the future.
Beyond the moral argument, there is a practical one as well. Business organizations have long claimed that safeguards like these are crucial to their efforts to attract and keep an inclusive workforce.
Some Iowans have every right to be proud of the state’s long history of legalizing same-sex unions and forbidding school segregation.
A group of Iowans’ civil rights could be taken away, which would be a terrible betrayal of that tradition.
House File 2082 needs to be stopped, Iowans need to show their lawmakers.
Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the newspaper table for the Register.
How to get in touch with politicians
To find the contact information for politicians, go to website. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators The switchboards for the Iowa House and Senate can be reached by telephone at 515, 281, and 3116, respectively.
Members of the House File 2082 committee: Rep. Charley Thomson, robert. [email protected]. Rep. John Wills, John. Gov. Legislative wills.iowa Sami Scheetz, mari, and Rep. [email protected] Gov.
Steve Holt, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, is the chair. [email protected]. Gov.
