LGBTQ
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Public hearing set for Gov. Reynolds’ anti-trans bill
PUBLIC HEARING UPDATE: A public hearing has been set for Iowa Gov. Reynolds’ most recent anti-trans bill, which was renumbered to House File 2389. The bill would establish legal definitions of gendered terms like “man,” “woman,” “mother,” and “father,” and require trans Iowans to have special birth certificates and use separate facilities in public facilities.…
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VIDEOS: Iowans react to LGBTQ discrimination bill going up in flames
On Wednesday, an Iowa House subcommittee for HF 2082 met to hear public comments and debate if the bill should move forward. If passed, HF 2082 would have removed gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act and categorized gender dysphoria as a disability, effectively legalizing the discrimination of trans Iowans.…
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Bill to legalize discrimination against trans Iowans goes down in flames
Cheers rang out down the hallway as a bill that would have legalized discrimination against trans and nonbinary Iowans failed to pass an Iowa House subcommittee Wednesday. HF 2082 would have removed gender identity as a protected class and added a diagnosis for gender dysphoria or gender identity to the disabilities clause of the civil…
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Instead of fixing real issues, Iowa Republicans push 10 bills to discriminate against LGBTQ Iowans
We are less than a month into the 2024 Iowa Legislative Session and the Republicans in charge of Iowa’s state government have been busy— and by busy, we mean coming up with new ways to legally discriminate against LGBTQ Iowans. As Iowans struggle with stagnant wages, budget shortfalls in public schools, worsened water quality, higher…
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Iowa Republicans want to ban local bans on conversion therapy
Iowa Republicans are continuing their attack on Home Rule in the Legislature this year, this time going after bans on widely discredited conversion therapy for minors. Iowa Sen. Sandy Salmon—a Republican from Janesville who represents Bremer, Butler, Chickasaw and most of Floyd counties—introduced Senate File 2037 last week. It passed out of a Senate subcommittee…
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7 Iowa families file federal lawsuit to stop anti-LGBTQ+ law
Someone threatened to kill Percy Batista-Pedro when he was a freshman performing in the school play. Now a junior in high school in the Waterloo Community School District, Percy—a transgender student—said he feels like he has a target on his back because of an anti-LGBTQ+ law passed by Iowa Republicans this year and signed into…
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How to get help for—and support—transgender Iowans
Max Mowitz started the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund in 2021 because they saw a need they knew they could fill. “I was connected with so many mutual aid organizations that were doing incredible work, especially after the protests of 2020,” they said. “And I really saw a profound need for this kind of care…
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Why the Dec. 5 Waterloo run-off election is big for the LGBTQ community
The Dec. 5 run-off election in Waterloo will be a match-up between a progressive voice on the city council who fights for LGBTQ protections and one who “clearly doesn’t.” That’s according to Jonathan Grieder, the progressive voice in that race and the current Ward 2 representative on the Waterloo City Council. He gave up his…
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Trans Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20 time to grieve, gather, hope
Transgender Day of Remembrance, founded in 1999 and falling on every Nov. 20, has a straightforward goal of remembering and mourning the trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people who have died because of anti-trans violence and hatred. Max Mowitz, program director for One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, also sees it as an opportunity to…
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Biden Administration Announces New Measures to Protect LGBTQ Americans
The Biden administration on Thursday announced several new measures to help protect LGBTQ Americans amid growing attacks against their community in Republican-led states. “LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination,” Neera Tanden, a White House domestic policy adviser, said in a statement. One of the measures is…
