Iowa Puts ‘Gender Identity’ Craze To Rest

A new Iowa law went into effect on Tuesday that removes “gender identity” from the state’s civil rights code, making Iowa the first state to formally roll back so-called gender identity protections.

Signed in March by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, the law defines gender strictly based on biological sex and eliminates the option to change the sex listed on a birth certificate. According to the text of the law, the change is intended to align the state’s civil rights code with the state government’s aim of protecting the “health, safety, and privacy” of Iowans — particularly women — whom Reynolds said were “at risk” before the legislation took effect.

“Today I’m signing into law a bill that safeguards the rights of women and girls,” Reynolds said in a video statement before the bill’s signing. “It is common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it is necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls. It is why we have men and women’s bathrooms, but not men and women’s conference rooms; girls’ and boys’ sports, but not girls’ math and boys’ math; separate men and women’s prisons, but not different laws for men and women. It is about the biological differences, and that is all.”