Iowa could become the first US state to strip gender identity from civil rights protections

Iowa could become the first US state to strip gender identity from civil rights protections after lawmakers passed a bill that would remove protections for the trans community despite dozens of protesters opposing the legislation.

If Iowa’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signs the bill, which aims to strip Iowa’s civil rights code of protections based on gender identity, into law it would become the first state to do so.

The move comes amid continued attacks against the trans and non-binary communities in the United States, with President Trump signing several executive orders limiting transgender rights since taking over the White House on January 20.

His orders aim to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs; demand government employees refer only to “sex” and not “gender;” and declare gender to be an “immutable biological reality” that precludes any change in gender identity.

Civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocates say the Iowa bill would leave the transgender community vulnerable to discrimination. The bill aims to abolish gender identity as a protected class and define female and male along with gender, which it says will be a synonym for sex.

Demonstrators opposed the bill, chanting slogans like “say no to hate” and holding banners that read “trans rights are human rights.”