Iowa on Friday became the first US state to strip gender identity protections from its civil rights law after its governor signed a bill removing safeguards for transgender people.
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds inked the measure the day after it won approval from the Midwestern state’s Republican-controlled legislature, despite angry protests and several hours of debate.
In a video on social media, Reynolds said the new law, which goes into effect on July 1, “safeguards the rights of women and girls.”
“Before I signed this bill, the Civil Rights Code blurred the biological line between the sexes,” she said.
It was the latest blow to transgender Americans since President Donald Trump returned to power.
In his first days in office, Trump declared the federal government would recognize only two genders — men and women — and has targeted transgender people in a slew of other orders.
Reynolds echoed Republican lines on the issue, saying the law “brings Iowa in line with the federal civil rights code.”
Trump expressed support for the bill on Truth Social before Reynolds signed it, writing “Thank you Iowa!” and mentioning his own efforts to combat what he called “Radical Gender Ideology.”
Reynolds had previously approved measures forbidding transgender students from sports events and restricting what bathrooms they can access.
Critics have branded the bill “barbaric.”
“Today is a difficult day for all Iowans who rely on the rule of law to protect their basic human rights,” said Executive Director Mark Stringer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday.
He called it “unacceptable” the state would become “the first to specifically single out transgender people for removal of their legal rights as enshrined in state antidiscrimination law.”
Transgender rights have become a hot-button issue in the United States, despite trans people being a small minority of the population.
US media reported that hundreds of protesters descended on the state capitol ahead of the vote Thursday, carrying rainbow flags and chanting “No hate in our state.”
The measure defines gender as the person’s sex at birth and says gender “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.”
It also removes gender identity from a list of categories with protected status from discrimination, which include ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, and others.
