Under a new bill from Rep. Jeff Shipley (R-Fairfield), who has frequently used his position to target trans people’s rights, Iowa could become the first state in the nation to reform legal protections for trans people.
Iowa Republicans have introduced numerous bills over the years to eliminate gender identity as a protected class under Iowa’s Civil Rights Act, but none of them was ever given the opportunity to meet with the committee until Thursday, when one was set aside for Shipley.
Gender identity may no longer be considered a protected class under HF 2082, and the civil rights code’s disabilities section would now include the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder.
If Shipley’s bill were to become law, a trans person would only be able to receive the same level of legal protections as they do now by being classified as having some sort of mental illness.
Trans columnist Mira Lazine outlined the negative effects on her community in a Twitter thread.
In reference to “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” Lazine said, “It’s first worth noting that this would remove protections for people who aren’t diagnosed with gender dysphoria, or previously a gender identity disorder under earlier editions of the DSM.” “This would expose a great number of people to discrimination without protection.”
Additionally, she claimed that this harms those who have received a gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder diagnosis, adds new legal obstacles, and makes it more difficult to prove discrimination.
It should also be noted, according to Lazine, that this supports the damaging notion that being trans is essentially a medical condition. Trans people shouldn’t be medicalized by nature, and trans people are not inherently disabled!
Transgender Iowans lose important anti-discrimination protections in the areas of accommodation, credit, education, employment, and public accommodation if the Iowa Civil Rights Act is repealed, according to One Iowa, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
According to One Iowa Action Executive Director Courtney Reyes, “we find ourselves grappling with the shameful attempt by Iowa Republicans to remove a group of Iowans of basic rights.”
“Those who’ve never faced it might take for granted the privilege of navigating daily living without the threat of discrimination, but make no mistake.” These protections are not only necessary but also inviolable, she continued.
During a Thursday press event with Democratic legislative leaders, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst (D-Windsor Heights) also criticized the policy and its progression.
According to Konfrst, Representative Shipley’s proposed legislation is nasty, pointless, and extremely vulnerable to unintended consequences. It goes against the very nature of who Iowans are and what they aspire to be, as we consider opening Iowa’s Civil Rights code to strip some of their rights.
Since his election to the Iowa Legislature in 2019, Shipley has introduced his first anti-trans bills in 2020 and has done so in each subsequent session.
During the House debate over a bill to forbid trans girls and women from participating in scholastic sports, which later became law, Shipley pathologized trans Iowans with gender dysphoria at least 11 times. In 2022, he referred to trans people as having mental illnesses.
A similar anti-trans theme was taken by the original cabbage salesman, comedian, artist, gardener, and IT professional during a 2023 Moms for Liberty event in Des Moines that Gov. Kim Reynolds attended.
On Wednesday, January 31, a hearing on HF 2082 is scheduled to begin in room 102 of the Iowa State Capitol building in Des Moines.
