Old and new friends laughed and complimented each other’s outfits in early June at Capital City Pride in Des Moines.
"Pride is a celebration of joy," Beverly Smith said with a smile. But as a transgender woman, she knows her civil rights have changed in Iowa.
“It will now be legal for me to walk into a restaurant to be turned away, to be told 'We don’t serve your type,'" Smith said.
She has lived in Iowa her whole life, and has lived as Beverly in all areas of her life for just over a year.
Smith said she felt discriminated against at her last job for using the women’s restroom after transitioning. She was washing her hands one day when a coworker walked in.
"[She] stiffened when she saw me and just walked straight through and exited," Smith recalled.
Smith then saw the coworker waiting outside the restroom.
"And she simply said ‘So, you're using this restroom now?'" Smith said.
A couple weeks later, Smith said the company put up vacancy signs — effectively making all the multi-stall restrooms single-occupancy.
"It was insulting," she said. "I am not a leper, but that was definitely the way it left me to feel."
Smith quit her job after the company denied her a raise and brushed off how some coworkers were treating her.
While searching for a new job, she realized her resume outed her as transgender because she has mostly worked under her deadname. Smith said she didn't receive rejection notices for some jobs.
“I had to ask myself, well there’s a very good possibility that the first level administrator sees this cover letter and throws the resume away,” she said.
But gender identity is no longer protected under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which covers anti-discrimination protections employment, as well as in housing, education, public accommodations and credit practices.
Historic legislation
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 418 Feb. 28, a week after the legislation was introduced.
Reynolds and other lawmakers who supported the bill said it’s needed to uphold other laws that target transgender Iowans, like banning transgender youth women from women's sports.
“I am signing into law a bill that safeguards the rights of women and girls," Reynolds said in a video statement. "It's common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women."
Because of the bill, Iowa's Republican-controlled Legislature was able to ban Medicaid coverage for some gender-affirming procedures for adults as part of a provision in a state budget bill. Courts have blocked similar past attempts because of the gender identity protections in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
"It’s trans women who need the protection of state civil rights protections when they use the restroom so that they are not facing any personal risk for doing that," said Rita Bettis Austen, the legal director at the ACLU of Iowa.
Bettis Austen said the law is harmful and even life-threatening in some cases.
"It is a reaction against enormous progress by the trans people to become more visible," she said.
Max Mowitz, the executive director of LGBTQ rights group One Iowa, said everyone has a gender identity and the law could harm cisgender people who don't conform to gender norms.
"Nobody is made safer by putting more and more parameters on their identities and their lived experience," he said.
Bettis Austen and Mowitz say it’s hard to know the full impact since Iowa is the first state to repeal civil rights for transgender and nonbinary people.
What federal protections are left?
The ACLU of Iowa has used the Iowa Civil Rights Act for several gender identity discrimination cases since gender identity was first protected in 2007. Bettis Austen said the organization's work isn't going to stop because of the new law.
"We’re not gonna go anywhere. We’re gonna keep looking to protect those same rights," she said. "It may look different.”
Bettis Austen said there could be federal protections under the First Amendment.
“How you talk about yourself, how your express your gender identity, how you dress — those things are protected forms of expression," Bettis Austen said.
She also said there could be federal protections under the Americans with Disability Act for people diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County (2019) that gender identity and sexual orientation falls under Title VII protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment. This applies to employers with at least 15 employees.
There are no federal gender identity anti-discrimination protections in public accommodations, meaning places that provide general services to the public, like restaurants or gas stations. According to Movement Advancement Project, 21 states have public accommodation protections for transgender people. Civil rights protection areas vary between states as well.
But these protections and other federal programs are up in the air, as federal agencies attempt to align with President Donald Trump's executive order from January. Among other things, the executive order defines sex as what was assigned at birth and prohibits funding for what it calls “gender ideology.”
“I think a lot of the things that we've seen at the federal level are unconstitutional," Bettis Austen said. "Those things will be tested in the courts."
Advocates say it's going to be 'a really long fight'
Mowitz said the law is meant to confuse people and send a message that trans people are not welcome in Iowa.
“[That] we don't belong here, and there's not a place for transgender Iowans here. And of course, I don't believe that, and I strongly advocate against that," he said.
One Iowa, the LGBTQ rights organization, has always done LGBTQ inclusivity workplace trainings, but Mowitz said it has been seeking out all types of businesses to provide the training, in part to prepare managers to support employees if they face discrimination. The organization will continue to provide referrals for resources in housing, health care and other areas.
"There is a person in every corner of your community, and our state, that is fighting for you.”Max Mowitz, executive director of One Iowa
Mowitz said it's important transgender people have others in their life who affirm them, even if those people are online friends.
"I have seen a tremendous uptick in folks asking for community supports and just spaces to be safe," he said.
One Iowa plans to focus on creating those spaces throughout the state as a result of the new state law eliminating gender identity protections.
"I want the trans community to know that there is — even if you can't see them — there is a person in every corner in your community, and our state, that is fighting for you,” Mowitz said.
Beverly Smith now works at a company that affirms her gender identity. She said she’s cautious of possible discrimination in the future, but it won’t change how she lives life.
"Iowa is not as hateful as this legislation suggests us to be," said Smith. “People are people everywhere. We all love our kids. We all love our dogs. People aren’t that different.”
And she said that is what gives her hope.
