The following statement can be attributed to ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer.
“Once again, a group of politicians has attacked the fundamental right of transgender Iowans to be treated the same as other Iowans. They have introduced HF 2164, a bill that seeks to authorize discrimination against transgender Iowans by removing gender identity as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. This bill attempts to roll back the clock and allow discrimination against transgender people at work, in housing, in public education, in restaurants, in medical care, and in many other aspects of society. Transgender people are Iowans, too, and they deserve to be treated equally.
Discriminating against transgender people—or any Iowans—will not make them, or us, go away or stop being who they are. We’ll continue to remind legislators of the obvious: Transgender people already do exist; they aren’t going anywhere; and they have large communities of Iowans fighting for equality and dignity right alongside them.
We urge every Iowan to contact their state representative to let them know that they oppose this harmful, discriminatory legislation, and to urge them to vote no on HF 2164.”