Iowa Gov... banning local trans rights protections as “the right thing to do”

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

Iowa Gov. touts new law banning local trans rights protections as "the right thing to do"

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/03/iowa-gov-touts-new-law-banning-local-trans-rights-protections-as-the-right-thing-to-do/ 🔗

John Russell (12 March 2026)

Iowa's Republican Governor just signed a new law banning protections for trans people at the city and county level.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 579 earlier this week, the Des Moines Register reports. The bill, passed by Iowa's House of Delegates on March 5 in a party-line vote, prevents local governments throughout the state from adding categories of civil rights violations that are not included in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Reynolds told reporters Wednesday that signing the bill "was the right thing to do."

"We just believe that the locals should follow the state laws, especially when it comes to civil rights, otherwise we have a mismatch of rights out there," she said, according to the Register.

LGBTQ+ rights group One Iowa's executive director, Max Mowitz, blasted Reynolds' decision to ban trans protections at the local level, noting that the bill is one of only two pieces of legislation the governor has signed this year.

"Republicans acted as quickly as possible to remove any semblance of rights remaining for transgender Iowans, and took local civil rights commissions down with them," Mowitz said in a statement, according to the Register.

"With all the issues facing Iowans at this moment, from cancer rates to water quality, Iowa Republicans can't seem to agree on anything other than taking away civil rights," he said. "Gov. Kim Reynolds' legacy will be having removed more civil rights protections from her constituents than any other governor in history."

[ChrissyRyan]

Sometimes I wonder why some legislation are even introduced for a vote, much less being enacted into law.