This week, after Republicans on an Iowa House subcommittee advanced a bill to eliminate the power of local governments to offer broader civil rights protections than the state does, Ames became the latest city in the state to amend its municipal code to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary residents.
HSB 664 was drafted by Gov. Reynolds’ office and introduced in the Iowa House earlier this month. It follows the bill passed last year that removed gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, making Iowa the first state to erase part of its civil rights act to allow previously illegal discrimination to take place. In this case, Reynolds and Republican lawmakers wanted to remove state protections for trans and nonbinary people facing discrimination because they are trans or nonbinary. This year’s bill would prevent local governments from offering any such civil rights protections.
At its formal meeting on Tuesday night, the Ames City Council voted 5-1 to amend its human rights ordinance to prohibit “[d]iscriminatory practices on the basis of gender identity in employment, wages, public accommodations, housing, education, and credit practices,” offering city-level protection for transgender and nonbinary people.
An assistant city manager, or someone appointed by an assistant manager, will investigate complaints of gender identity discrimination. Mediation will be offered to the parties. If there is no resolution, “a determination will be made on whether a municipal infraction citation will be issued.” A first-time violation would result in a fine of $750. The fine for repeated violations would be $1,000.
The Ames City Council began discussing expanding the existing human rights section of its municipal code to protect gender identity in December. Tuesday’s vote came the day after the subcommittee voted 2-1 to advance HSB 664 to the full House Judiciary Committee for consideration,
Tim Gartin, who represents Ward 2, was the first councilmember to comment on the proposed change to municipal code during the meeting on Tuesday. Gartin had previously argued the city lacked jurisdiction to make such a change.
On Tuesday, he argued that maintaining a good relationship with the state legislature warranted pausing any action on transgender and nonbinary rights while HSB 664 is under consideration.
“At a time when cities desperately need to reset the relationship with the legislature, who holds all the cards with respect to property taxes, I think it would be prudent, given the interest they have in at least exploring this bill, to pause our efforts on this to see what the legislature does,” he said.
“So, there is no timing issue on our part,” Gartin continued. “We could delay this and see what the legislature does. And I think that would be an appropriate posture. They’ve expressed an interest in this, and I think that as another governing body in the state, I think it’s appropriate for us to pause and see what their actions ultimately are. Because if they pass [HSB 664], then its over.”
After Gartin finished speaking, Mayor John Haila asked if any members of the council would second Gartin’s motion to pause consideration of changing the human rights ordinance. No one did, and the motion died.
“Here’s the thing,” At-Large Councilmember Amber Corrieri said. “I don’t think there’s a single person up here that doesn’t believe the legislature is going to pass this legislation. At the same time, I don’t think the legislature over the last several years has shown any interest in listening to what municipalities have to say about property taxes or any other number of things. And so I’m not sure why, when it comes to protecting people from discrimination — all people, not just a certain subset of them — why we would set that aside to try to build a relationship with a group of people who have shown absolutely no interest in building a relationship with us.”
Gartin responded by saying the city lacks the authority because of last year’s bill that cut gender identity protections out of the Iowa Civil Rights Act and changed definitions in Iowa Code to prevent the state from recognizing trans and nonbinary people as trans and nonbinary.
“We have to follow the rules that exist,” he said.
“I agree with Amber,” Councilmember Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen of Ward 1 replied. “I mean, you speak of posture — I would say I am not interested in cowing to what I believe to be bullying behavior on the part of the state legislature. I think that as we face a state government that is increasingly inserting its control of our every move, I believe that it is important to make Ames’ stance on this issue clear. And like Amber said, in Ames, we believe in equal access to housing, to employment, to education, for all people.”
After noting that there had already been a substantial amount of public input on the issue at previous city council meetings, Mayor Haila asked the members of the public in the council chamber to show whether or not they support the proposed change. One person raised his hand in opposition. The mayor offered the person the opportunity to address the council and explain his opposition. The person declined to do so.
The council then moved to a vote on approving the first reading of the ordinance. Gartin was the only one to vote against it.
The council next voted to suspend normal rules in order to skip a second and third reading of the ordinance at future council meetings and proceed directly to a final vote. Gartin was the only one opposed. He was also the only nay on the final vote to adopt the ordinance.
The new ordinance adding gender identity protections to Ames’ human rights ordinance took effect immediately upon publication.
