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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has enacted a new law that eliminates local nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity, marking a significant change in the state’s civil rights legislation. This move follows Iowa’s unprecedented rollback of its civil rights code last year.
The law, which went into immediate effect on Tuesday after being signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, restricts cities and counties from implementing civil rights protections that exceed those outlined in the state code.
Several cities in Iowa, including progressive hubs like Des Moines and Iowa City, have already established gender identity protections. Recently, Ames, which hosts Iowa State University, adopted an ordinance to safeguard gender identity rights.
Republican leaders in both the House and Senate argue that the preemption law establishes a clear standard for protected classes, a position that has met with opposition from Democrats.
Republican state Representative Steve Holt expressed concern over potential conflicts, stating, “There could literally be hundreds of situations where we have conflicts with local ordinances. In today’s climate, a patchwork of different civil rights ordinances would be extremely difficult for businesses and schools to navigate.”
At least two other states, Arkansas and Tennessee, have laws that prohibit local nondiscrimination ordinances that are broader than state law, according to researchers at Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were not originally included in Iowa’s Civil Rights Act of 1965. They were added by the then-Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2007 with the support of about a dozen Republicans.
Last year, Reynolds and other Iowa Republicans said that the nondiscrimination protections could not coexist with recent laws to restrict transgender students’ use of such spaces as bathrooms and locker rooms, and their participation on sports teams.
Iowa’s civil rights law protects against discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability status.
In Iowa City, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Des Moines, gender identity protections against discrimination have been in local code for about 30 years, said Laura Bergus, a City Council member and lawyer.
After last year’s state law was enacted, the city passed a resolution “to reinforce the fact that we had that authority and to make sure that our residents knew that discrimination on the basis of gender identity specifically was still prohibited in Iowa City,” Bergus said Wednesday.
Bergus said the new law is “extreme overreach,” preventing local governments from responding to the needs of their community, and Iowa City is considering legal action.
“Our local leadership remains committed to protecting all of us,” Bergus said.
Iowans have until April 27 to file a civil rights complaint with the state on the basis of gender identity for incidents that occurred before the civil rights code rollback took effect on July 1, 2025. Only one complaint has been accepted for investigation since then, according to data provided by the Iowa Office of Civil Rights as of Feb. 13.
By contrast, 46 complaints on the basis of gender identity were accepted for investigation during the previous 12 months.
The rollback also removed Iowans’ ability to request a change to the sex designation on their birth certificate.
The state no longer tracks how many birth certificate changes it receives but continues to get them, according to the state health department. All are rejected.