The Iowa Capitol is packed with protesters as the Iowa legislature is poised to debate legislation to remove gender identity from the state’s Civil Rights Act.
A 90-minute public hearing got underway at 9:30 a.m. and Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison who is the bill’s floor manager in the House, opened with a note of caution.
“A lot of passion on this issue, but again, good order and discipline need to be maintained so everyone has the opportunity to have their voices heard,” Holt says. “Anyone that does disrupt the proceedings will be escorted from the room.”
Ryan Benn, legal counsel for The Family Leader, was first to testify.
“Clearly, there are circumstances when it is necessary and right to differentiate between a real woman and a man masquerading as a woman,” Benn says. “It’s common sense. A man has no place in a bathroom or a locker room with my wife or my daughters, and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for so called gender transition surgeries.”
V Fixmer-Oraiz, a member of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors who is a transgender Iowan, says the role of government is to protect the rights of all citizens.
“Never would I have imagined standing before you in opposition to a bill designed to remove civil rights protections for a group of people, my people who regularly experience discrimination based on gender identity,” Fixmer-Oraiz says. “By striking gender identity from the State Civil Rights Act, you are condoning inequality and discrimination in housing, education and employment.”
The House and Senate are likely to pass the bill sometime today.