Iowa... bill that will make the lives of transgender residents worse

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

Iowa House Republicans pass a bill that will make the lives of transgender residents worse

https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/iowa-nondiscrimination-prohibition-bill 🔗

Jack Walker (6 March 2026)

The Iowa House of Delegates passed a bill Thursday that would disallow local governments from including gender identity in their non-discrimination policies.

Protections for trans residents had already been struck from the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2025. The new bill would prohibit counties or municipalities from adopting non-discrimination policies that are "broader" or "different" from those protected under state law.

Rep. Amie Wichtendahl, a Democrat representing the Cedar Rapids area, was sworn in as Iowa's first out trans state legislator last year. Wichtendahl said the bill makes LGBTQ+ residents feel less safe in Iowa, pushing them toward "friendlier homes in neighboring states," the Des Moines Register reports.

"It diminishes our ability to attract new workers," Wichrendahl said. "This bill before us today makes a mockery of our state's most sacred values."

"We're not going to have everybody, and their mom decides they're going to have this civil rights code," said Rep. Skyler Wheeler, a Republican representing the Hull area, according to the Des Moines Register. "It's unworkable for businesses, and it's just a crazy idea."

[ChrissyRyan]

What justice is served by this bill?

[Lori Dee ✅]

It makes it illegal to prohibit discrimination. Wow.

Who is steering this boat?