Des Moines commission backs gender identity protections
7:23 PM, Aug 11, 2011 | by Jason Pulliam |
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/08/11/des-moines-commission-backs-gender-identity-protections/A plan to make gender identity a protected class in Des Moines was approved Thursday by the city's Human Rights Commission.
Commission members voted 4-1 to extend civil rights protections to people on the basis of gender identity, a move meant to mirror language in Iowa law. City Council approval is needed to make the change official.
[...]
Lisa McDonald, who told commission members she was born transsexual, urged the panel to support gender identity protections.
"A drag queen is not a transsexual," McDonald, of Des Moines, told commissioners. "They do not have a gender identity issue. They are basically a gay man that dresses in women's clothing. The same thing would be for a cross-dresser.
