Iowa lawmakers vote to remove gender identity as a protected class

Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature voted Thursday to remove gender identity as a protected class from the state’s civil rights code, sending the first-of-its-kind measure to Gov. Kim Reynolds (R). 

The bill, first introduced last week, sped through the legislative process despite widespread opposition from Democrats and LGBTQ rights advocates who flooded the statehouse in Des Moines to protest its passage. More than 2,500 people entered the building Thursday, the Des Moines Register reported, citing numbers from state Capitol security, more than triple the roughly 600 on an average day.