Transgender in Iowa
Last updated: August 14, 2025 01:41 pm
Starting July 1, 2025, Iowa's heartless removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act goes into effect. The Iowa Legislature voted to strip away some state-level legal protections belonging to transgender Iowans since 2007, and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the legislation.
No one knows the full impact of this change. The courts, and, of course, impacted Iowans, will have to sort that out in the years to come.
Meanwhile, we want everyone to know that transgender Iowans still have rights—including protection against discrimination. This change to the Iowa Civil Rights Act does not make discrimination morally right, and in many cases, it doesn’t actually make it legal. That is because the Iowa Civil Rights Act was just one type of legal protection, however important, and many others still exist.
No matter what, know that the ACLU of Iowa is with you. We will keep working for a state where everyone is free and equal. We know that history is on our side.
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