Overview

• The law took effect July 1, stripping gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act and defining male or female solely by reproductive anatomy at birth.
• State budget provisions now bar Medicaid from covering gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapy for recipients in Iowa.
• Transgender Iowans had until April 27 to file discrimination complaints for incidents before the law’s enactment and to amend birth certificates under the previous code.
• LGBTQ+ advocates and Democratic lawmakers have vowed legal challenges and staged protests in Des Moines, warning that the changes will heighten vulnerability and hostility toward transgender residents.
• Federal protections under the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock ruling apply only to employers with 15 or more workers, leaving many Iowans without recourse under state or federal law.