The following statement can be attributed to ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer regarding the Iowa Civil Rights Removal Act, HSB 242, a bill that would allow discrimination against transgender people in housing, hotels, banking, government documents, access to government services, at the workplace, and more:
"The Iowa Legislature is considering a proposal to take away legal protections for transgender Iowans under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. If it does so, it would be the first and only state in the country to repeal broad legislation ensuring the rights of transgender people. We strongly oppose this proposal and we encourage state legislators to stop it in its tracks.
"Last year, the Iowa Legislature rejected similar legislation—twice. This year’s legislation is even worse. The Legislature should reject it again. What was wrong then is still wrong now.
"This year's legislation would remove the right of transgender Iowans to get government documents that accurately describe who they are. Current law allows this if the person’s doctor certifies that their sex has changed due to surgery or other treatment. If this new law passed, transgender Iowans would no longer be able to change the sex listed on their birth certificate, which is important to get other documents, such as driver's licenses, that also reflect their gender identity.
"The ability to have identity documents that align with who we are is critical for all of us. We rely on those documents for driving, voting, banking, getting on an airplane, and so many other areas of modern life. For transgender people, documents that don't align with who they are can also present the risks and harm of being outed as transgender. That compromises their privacy, their equal treatment, and in some cases, even their safety.
"Meanwhile, the current federal government is doing everything it can to try to eviscerate protections for transgender people at the federal level. That means it's even more vital to have state-level protections to prevent discrimination against people just because they're transgender. It's also important to note that the Iowa Civil Rights Act is designed to be more protective against discrimination than federal law. For example, ICRA covers Iowans in employment situations where there are four or more employees, versus 50 employees in federal law.
"For more than 15 years, the Iowa Civil Rights Act has protected transgender Iowans from discrimination in housing, in work, and in public accommodations, such as restaurants and hotels. The law works. Back when it was passed, it was long overdue. It means that our long-standing values of equality and fairness belong to everyone. The Iowa Civil Rights Act does not give special rights to anyone. Instead, it guarantees equal rights for people. It’s that simple: equality under the law is for everyone. Nothing more, nothing less.
"It is fundamentally against our principles and our history to take people’s rights away from them. But that’s exactly what this proposal does. That is impossible to reconcile with not just our values but even with our state motto: 'Our Liberties We Prize; Our Rights We Will Maintain.' To remove rights from our people is a violation of our history and of who we are.
"This proposal hurts people. It means a person can be fired, denied work, an apartment, or even a hotel room for no reason, as long as the person who is discriminating says they're doing it because they're transgender. That is not acceptable.
"We must leave the Iowa Civil Rights Act as it is. The government of Iowa has no place, no legitimacy, and no authority to take away the rights of anyone. In fact, the opposite is true: anyone with the power of government behind their actions needs to instead protect and defend the rights of all of us. All Iowans expect that from their elected officials, not only because it’s right but because our Constitution requires it.
"Iowans' civil rights are worth protecting. The Iowa Legislature should reject this proposal now."
