In 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court struck down a state regulation prohibiting Medicaid from covering gender-affirming procedures deemed medically necessary, finding it violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA). Republicans in the state legislature responded by passing a statute intended to amend the ICRA and make that sort of discrimination legal by prohibiting “any state […]
transgender rights
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Transgender Iowan sues to overturn state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for medically necessary procedures
A lawsuit challenging Iowa’s ban on allowing Medicaid to pay for gender-affirming procedures deemed necessary by a doctor was filed in Polk County District Court on Thursday by the ACLU of Iowa and the national ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project. The groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of Aiden Vasquez, a transgender resident of southeast […]
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Aime Wichtendahl, Iowa’s first trans elected official, reflects on coming out, her run for Hiawatha City Council and Iowa’s COVID-19 failures
Aime Wichtendahl didn’t run for office until 2015, but she’s been intrigued by politics for more than three decades. “When I was 8 years old, I remember following the ’88 presidential election between Bush and Dukakis,” she said. “And interestingly, I was really mad at my parents for voting for Dukakis. Which is weird now […]
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Report: Gov. Reynolds has repeatedly stopped Iowa AG Tom Miller from joining lawsuits against the Trump administration
Since May, Gov. Kim Reynolds has prevented Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller from submitting friend-of-the-court briefs in 10 federal lawsuits brought by other states against the Trump administration. The cases involve environmental regulations, gun control, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and the treatment of asylum seekers.
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Transgender Iowans sue over state’s latest attempt to restrict Medicaid funding
On Friday, the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit in state district court on behalf of two transgender Iowans and the LGBTQ rights group One Iowa, that seeks to overturn the state’s ban on the use of Medicaid funds to pay for sex reassignment procedures deemed medically necessary by doctors.
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Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill that cuts off Medicaid funds for gender confirmation procedures
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on Friday that contained a provision overturning a March ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court striking down the state’s ban on the use of Medicaid funds to pay for sex reassignment procedures deemed medically necessary by doctors. The justices ruled unanimously that the ban violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act
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Iowa Supreme Court strikes down state’s ban on Medicaid paying for gender affirmation procedures
In a unanimous decision issued on Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state’s prohibition on the use of Medicaid funds to pay for sex reassignment procedures deemed medically necessary by doctors violates the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The decision confirms a district court judge’s ruling in June 2018, striking down the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) rule against paying for such procedures.
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Iowa jury sides with transgender worker in landmark discrimination case
In a history-making decision, a Polk County jury found on Wednesday that the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (IDAS) engaged in sex discrimination and gender identity discrimination against Jesse Vroegh, a transgender man and former IDOC employee. The lawsuit, filed in August 2017, was the first discrimination lawsuit […]
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Steve King successfully pushed to erase protection for LGBTQ Americans in NAFTA revision
The revision of NAFTA signed by President Donald Trump, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in Buenos Aires on Friday contains a ground-breaking provision regarding LGBTQ rights. But thanks in part to pressure from Rep. Steve King and 39 other rightwing members of Congress, that provision won’t apply […]
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‘I sure as hell won’t be erased’: South East Junior High students march for transgender rights on Election Day
As people crowded into polling places on the University of Iowa’s campus on Tuesday afternoon, a group of students from Iowa City’s South East Junior High School marched to the campus to show support for transgender rights. Two eighth-graders, Sam and Lucas, mounted the steps of Schaeffer Hall to rally their fellow students, who had […]
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As Republicans work to remove trans and nonbinary gender protections, Iowa City will host a ‘Don’t Erase’ rally
On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that said business owners should be allowed to discriminate against transgender workers. Representing the Trump administration, Solicitor General Noel Francisco discarded the position the Justice Department has previously held, and argued in the brief there is nothing in federal law preventing such discrimination.
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Trump administration may change the definition of gender to eliminate protection for transgender people
On Sunday, the New York Times reported the Trump administration is considering erasing the rights of transgender gender under federal law by “narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.”
