Reynolds signs Iowa law barring local trans civil rights protections
City and county civil rights commissions can no longer protect Iowans from discrimination based on gender identity after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law preventing them from enacting such protections.
Reynolds, a Republican, signed Senate File 579 on March 10.
The legislation expands a controversial 2025 law that removed gender identity as a protected class in Iowa’s civil rights law. Last year’s law made Iowa the first state in the nation to remove civil rights protections previously included in the law.
The bill adds language to the Iowa Civil Rights Act, stating that “a city or local government shall not enact any ordinance or other law that is broader or has categories of unfair or discriminatory practices different from those provided in this chapter.”
Reynolds told reporters March 11 that signing the bill removing local governments’ ability to enact broader protections “was the right thing to do.”
Governor Kim Reynolds speaks during her weekly media availability March 11, 2026, at the Iowa State Capitol.
“We just think residents should respect the laws of the state, especially when it comes to civil rights, or we’ll end up with a rights mismatch,” she said. “We felt it was the right thing to do. I think we forget that it also matches federal law, so now state law, local law and federal laws all match.”
The law means that nearly 20 local governments that have their own civil rights protections against discrimination based on gender identity will no longer be able to enforce them.
This includes some of Iowa’s largest cities like Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Cedar Rapids, Marion, Iowa City, Davenport, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Ames and Council Bluffs.
Republicans say the 2025 law change was necessary to ensure other laws they have passed can survive legal challenges, including laws banning transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming medical care, banning transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity and banning transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports.
“This impacts protecting women’s sports and making sure we protect girls in safe spaces, in bathrooms and in lockers,” Reynolds said. “And so that was compromised if we had a mix of mixed laws within our state.”
The bill passed both the Iowa House and Senate on party-line votes.
LGBTQ civil rights groups, Democrats and other opponents said the bill was an overreach by state government and accused Republicans of discriminating against transgender people.
“Republicans moved as quickly as possible to strip away any remaining semblance of rights for transgender Iowans and dragged local civil rights commissions with them,” Max Mowitz, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group One Iowa, said in a statement.
Mowitz noted that the only other law Reynolds has signed so far this year is Iowa’s annual school funding measure.
“Think about that,” Mowitz said. “With all the issues facing Iowans right now, from cancer rates to water quality, Iowa Republicans can’t seem to agree on anything other than rolling back civil rights. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ legacy will be to have rolled back more civil rights protections for her constituents than any other governor in history.”
The law also removes the requirement that cities with at least 29,000 residents have a civil rights commission, although it still allows them to have one. And it sets the term of office for local civil rights commissioners at two years.
It says all complaints filed with local civil rights commissions that are not resolved within a year will be transferred to the Iowa Office for Civil Rights.
And it requires that any complaint filed with a local civil rights commission be transferred to the state if one of the parties is a local government.
Des Moines Register Statehouse reporter Marissa Payne contributed to this report.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be contacted by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Reynolds signs Iowa law blocking local trans civil rights protections
