ACLU of Iowa Statement on Protections for Transgender Iowans After July 1 Law Change

The following statement can be attributed to Rita Bettis Austen, ACLU of Iowa Legal Director:

On July 1, 2025, Iowa's heartless removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act goes into effect. Earlier this year, the Iowa Legislature voted to strip away some important state-level legal protections belonging to transgender Iowans and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the legislation. Those protections were added to the Iowa Civil Rights Act 18 years ago, in 2007, and extended the same nondiscrimination protections in housing, credit, employment, public accommodations, and education that exist based on race, religion, sex, and other classes to gender identity.

Gender identity is something we all have. For cisgender people, internal, deeply felt gender is the same as the sex we were identified with at birth, whether male or female. For transgender people, gender is different from the sex we were identified with at birth. But that gender identity is just as fixed, and deeply known, whether we are cisgender or transgender. And the protection that used to exist in Iowa law against gender identity discrimination protected everyone the same, whether cisgender or transgender.

The legislature’s decision to remove this protection and the Iowa Governor’s decision to sign that discriminatory bill into law was cruel. That is because they did so specifically to allow discrimination—including by the state of Iowa itself—against transgender people, a very small minority of people in Iowa.

And this extraordinary cruelty was unprecedented as a setback for civil rights in the law. Never in our state or country’s history has a state legislature added this type of civil nondiscrimination protection into the law and then voted to take it away.

With the law set to take effect July 1, there are a few important things to know, especially for transgender people.

First, no one really knows the full impact of this change in the law. As mentioned, it protected cisgender people along with transgender people. We don’t yet know how the courts will deal with cases of discrimination against people on the basis of sex stereotypes filed under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, for example. We believe and hope that the courts would find that both cisgender and transgender people are protected against that kind of discrimination (such as firing people for "not being masculine—or feminine— enough," or for being "too masculine —or feminine") as prohibited sex discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. But we actually don’t know. And that’s just one example. So the courts, and, of course, ultimately impacted Iowans, will have to sort that out in the years to come. This is just one reason among many that we want to see this protection restored to the Iowa Code where it has been for nearly 20 years.

Second, while this cruel, harmful mess the Iowa legislature created works its way through the courts, we want everyone to know that transgender Iowans still have rights—including protection against discrimination.

This change in the law does not make discrimination against someone because they are trans morally right, of course, and in many cases, it doesn’t actually make it legal. That is because the Iowa Civil Rights Act was one type of legal protection and many others still exist.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some important protections that remain:

1. Federal nondiscrimination laws. The United States Supreme Court has found that Title VII, a federal civil rights law that applies to discrimination in employment, protects transgender people. The 2025 Iowa Civil Rights Act amendment did not—and cannot—take that away. So Iowa employers are still bound by Title VII.
   1. Other federal civil rights laws that protect transgender people include Title IX, which requires nondiscrimination in education on the basis of sex, sex stereotypes, and including gender or gender identity.
   2. Federal disability related civil rights laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, also protect people against discrimination on the basis of gender dysphoria.
2. Municipal/local nondiscrimination ordinances. Many Iowa municipalities and counties already have their own nondiscrimination ordinances and policies that protect against discrimination because someone is transgender. The Iowa Civil Rights Act allows for independent, local-level civil rights protections. And there are local civil rights commissions that enforce these rights around the state. [Here is a list.]
   1. The courts have not yet been asked to decide if these protections apply after the 2025 amendment to the Iowa Civil Rights Act to remove gender identity nondiscrimination protections at the state level. But we think, based on the text of the statute and cases arising in other contexts which are analogous, that many of them should continue to protect transgender people from discrimination at the local level, at least where there isn’t a conflict with a state law (for example, there is a state law preempting local ordinances regulating wages).
3. State anti-bullying law. Iowa law provides that all Iowa schools must have policies in place that prohibit bullying, set out procedures to protect students who experience bullying, and establish rules to help students who complain of bullying. Harassment and bullying in school remain prohibited, whether because someone is transgender or for some other reason.
4. The State and Federal Constitutions. The United States and Iowa Constitutions protect all of us. Some important rights in these Constitutions to know about include the right of free speech and expression. This would apply to how you express yourself and your sex and your gender: how you speak, what you say, how you dress, how you dance, sing and inhabit your body, what you write, what you read, how you protest, who your friends are and who you associate with, and on and on and on.
   1. The Constitutions also protect against unwarranted government surveillance, searches, and seizures, and gives us all important privacy rights from the government.
   2. And the state and federal constitutions guarantee Equal Protection. That is supposed to mean that the government cannot pass laws or policies motivated by animus toward one group, including transgender people.
   3. We are clear-eyed that the government doesn’t always follow the Constitution, and that the courts may not always work as they should to protect constitutional rights. That’s why groups like the ACLU and others exist, and we’re not going anywhere.
5. School, workplace, or other policies. There may be nondiscrimination policies that aim to provide a nondiscriminatory and inclusive environment for you at work, school, or as a customer, outside of, and regardless of, state law.
   1. For example, many employers in Iowa will continue to support workers who are transgender with policies governing privacy, employee records, names and pronouns, transitioning on the job, restrooms and locker rooms, dress codes, discrimination/harassment, and medical insurance coverage for gender affirming care.
   2. Over 1,000 businesses in Iowa have pledged to maintain inclusive spaces for transgender people.

Third, we want to emphasize that if you are transgender and experience discrimination, you still have rights, you still have allies, and you still have power. You can take action. Here are some things you can do:

1. Talk to an attorney. An attorney can help you problem-solve. If you’ve experienced discrimination because you are transgender—even in the areas that used to be covered in the Iowa Civil Rights Act—an attorney can help you determine if the law gives you a remedy. For example, maybe the Iowa Civil Rights Act no longer itself makes discrimination by a landlord illegal—but the federal Fair Housing Act still applies to protect against discrimination based on sex. On top of that, the landlord may still have violated other rights that you have as a tenant that you can seek to enforce under Iowa’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The best person to advise you is a lawyer, who can review your unique circumstances and help identify options for you moving forward.
   1. To find a lawyer, here are some places to get started:
      1. The Iowa Bar Association maintains a directory to help people find attorneys in their area in Iowa by practice type.
      2. If you are low-income, you may qualify for free legal assistance from Iowa Legal Aid, and we would encourage you to pursue that option.
      3. The ACLU of Iowa accepts confidential legal requests for assistance by email: legal.program@aclu-ia.org.
2. File a complaint. In many cases, an important first step is to file a complaint—whether that’s a complaint of bullying or harassment filed with your school; a complaint of harassment filed with your employer, a private business, a local civil rights commission, a police department, the Iowa Office of Civil Rights (even after the amendment, since the discrimination you experienced may still be covered under another area of the Iowa Civil Rights Act, or by federal law), a federal agency, or a court, in the form of a lawsuit. You may not need a lawyer to file a complaint. However, a lawyer can help you determine who best to file a complaint with, when to file a complaint, and what you should and shouldn’t say to best protect your interests.
3. Find community and ask for help. You belong in Iowa, and we’re so glad you are here. In addition to the ACLU of Iowa, which works to protect the civil liberties and legal rights of everyone, there are many transgender community groups that you might want to reach out to for support and community. There may be local groups or groups online.
   1. At the statewide level, you can reach out to OneIowa: https://oneiowa.org/.
   2. Here is a great list of transgender resources compiled by GLAAD.
4. Other ways to take action: Maybe you will find power and change by sharing your story, whatever that means to you, taking your own needs, safety, and what feels comfortable and right to you into account. Maybe you share what happened to you with friends and family, with coworkers, neighbors, on social media, or even with a reporter. Maybe you start or attend a protest or demonstration. Maybe you contact your representatives in local, state, or federal government about what happened, and ask for change. Maybe you volunteer. Maybe you take action by voting, or even running for office.

No matter what, know that we at the ACLU of Iowa are with you. We, too, are grieving this unwise and harmful change in the law and the many attacks on transgender people in our state and at the federal level. But we are committed to change. We will keep working for an Iowa where everyone is free and equal. We know that history is on our side. We take a long view, and we are not going anywhere.