The bill, signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday, raced through the legislative process after first being introduced last week. The state Senate was first to approve the bill on Thursday, on party lines, followed by the House less than an hour later. Five House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against it.
The bill would remove gender identity as a protected class from the state’s civil rights law and explicitly define female and male, as well as gender, which would be considered a synonym for sex and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.”
Reynolds posted a video on X explaining her signature on the bill and acknowledging that it was a “sensitive issue for some.”
“It’s common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it’s necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls,” she said, adding that the previous civil rights code "blurred the biological line between the sexes.”
The measure would be the first legislative action in the U.S. to remove nondiscrimination protections based on claims from a person who says his or her gender is different from their biological sex.
Protesters who watched the vote from the House gallery loudly booed and shouted “Shame!” as the chamber adjourned. Many admonished Iowa state Rep. Steven Holt, who floor managed the bill and delivered a fierce defense of it before it passed.
Supporters of the change say the current law incorrectly codified the idea that people can transition to another gender and granted males claiming to be females access to spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that should be protected for people who are actually females. Holt said the inclusion of gender identity in the civil rights codes threatens recent “commonsense” laws to ban males from participation in female sports and access to female bathrooms.
“The legislature of Iowa for the future of our children and our culture has a vested interest and solemn responsibility to stand up for immutable truth,” Holt said.
