By Dr. Emma Denney, Iowa City
There have been unprecedented attacks on the civil rights of trans Iowans this week. HF 583 — a bill stripping civil rights protections for trans people from the Iowa code, legalizing discrimination against us, and legally erasing trans and intersex people — was forced through subcommittee and committee in less than a day. Its counterpart in the Senate followed the same track within 48 hours. In that time, Oliver Weilein was the only city council candidate to stand up for our community, sharing information about protests and legal efforts to fight the bills on his social media, and even going so far as to encourage Bernie Sanders to use his platform to speak out against the bills.
As a transgender woman, an organizer in the trans community, and a frequent speaker in the public hearings on these bills, having a city councilor like Oliver, who has taken the time to listen to our community’s concerns and understand our needs, would be game changing. During the candidate’s forum Oliver offered real workable solutions, discussing partnering with One Iowa and the Iowa ACLU to fight against the hate coming from Des Moines. Oliver also discussed looking for creative solutions to keep vulnerable residents safe in Iowa’s challenging legal landscape. This kind of advocacy is what we need if we want to keep Iowa City safe for trans people, who have already been fleeing elsewhere in Iowa to come here.
In 2023, when I and six other trans people were arrested by UIPD while protesting for our rights to safety and self-determination, Oliver showed up in support, documenting protests, sharing information about legal aid and fundraisers for our legal fees, and using his social media presence to promote the efforts by the community to secure new, meaningful protections for trans residents. These efforts ultimately led to the formation of the Johnson County Transgender Advisory Committee, a first of its kind group in Iowa. Oliver has demonstrated a consistency in his support for trans people and our rights that few elected officials in Iowa City can match.
Before January’s candidate’s forum, I reached out to Ross Nusser, hoping to have a conversation about this current legal situation in Iowa, and what protections and community resources already existed — the same conversation I’d had with Oliver. I was disheartened by his lackluster “after the election” response, which I found dismissive. After LGBTQ+ rights came up multiple times in the forum, I had a brief exchange with Ross, asking why he had refused to meet with me and other trans residents despite his claim during the forum that he loved having one-on-one conversations with his constituents, in which he repeated his same “after the election” line. He then went on to characterize trans people reaching out to him and calling him out as threatening — in a Facebook comment he later edited.
This decision — to call women standing up for our rights “manipulative” and intimidating simply for making our voices heard — is transmisogynist, and tries to paint our community as dangerous. At a time when we are under such horrifying attacks from our state government, trans people deserve better than this.
The choice is clear.
