This is an image of a reimagined Iowa state flag with rainbow Pride stripes.

Gordie Felger is a volunteer member of two LGBTQ+ organizations (CR Pride and Free Mom Hugs) and a One Iowa volunteer activist. He is a friend of many LGBTQ+ folks and an ally to the community. He also writes about the state of Iowa politics at “WFT Iowa?”

First, the Iowa legislature banned transgender girls from playing girls’ and women’s competitive sports in 2022. Republican lawmakers routinely use a transgender sports ban as an opening strategy. If the public accepts one “minor” anti-trans law, lawmakers can easily escalate from there. Here, legislators rely on the myth of the supposed “male biological advantage.” It’s about “fairness,” they claim. I know from personal experience that the so-called “biological advantage” is a generalization. A myth should not drive legislative policy.

Then came a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth in 2023. Lawmakers said we must protect children from “experimental medical treatments” like puberty blockers and hormone therapies. But those same lawmakers conveniently ignore the fact that cisgender children have safely used these medications for decades. Which is it? Are these treatments experimental or safe? Most Iowa lawmakers don’t even have the medical knowledge needed to make this judgment. So, why did they?

Also in 2023, Republicans approved a school bathroom ban for transgender students. This law supposedly protects girls from “boys pretending to be girls” in private spaces. This falsely assumes that transgender girls are not “real girls.” Opponents of this law point to incidents in which both transgender and cisgender girls experienced harassment simply for not looking feminine enough. So, which children does this law protect?

Later in the 2023 legislative session came the “don’t say gay/trans” law that prohibits the discussion of LGBTQ+-related topics in public schools from grades K-6. Additionally, the law requires educators to out gender-nonconforming students to their parents. Even when doing so puts the child in danger at home. This clearly contradicts the “protecting children” narrative.

The same “don’t say gay/trans law” also bans books “with descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” from K-12 school libraries and classrooms. Of course, schools should not expose children to pornography. But which books have schools removed? LGBTQ+-themed books, books by authors of color, and books based on historical truths, like the Holocaust and racism.

Republicans have claimed this law’s language is clear. If that’s so, why are schools pulling such diverse books? At least one Iowa school district removed the book And Tango Makes Three. Please show me where the sex act appears in a picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin. Educators self-sensor out of fear of legal or administrative disciplinary action. Even when a book doesn’t meet the single legal requirement for removal.

Republicans approved the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2024. While that law does not solely discriminate against LGBTQ+ Iowans, it allows anyone to discriminate against another person on religious grounds. This affects anyone deemed to threaten religious beliefs, including LGBTQ+ Iowans. This seems to be less about “protecting children” and more an excuse for state-sanctioned discrimination.

In 2025, GOP legislators approved a bill that removed gender identity as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act and contained other provisions that allows discrimination against gender-nonconforming Iowans in civic life. Was this about “protecting children?” Nope. The rationale for this change? The Iowa Civil Rights Act undermined the enforcement of previously passed discriminatory laws. If a new law infringes on a group’s civil rights, just change the rules. Easy!

At this point, we can reason that this escalation in anti-LGBTQ+ laws is not really about “protecting children” at all. It’s pure discrimination.

My message to Iowa lawmakers? Stop passing off your anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments as “protecting children.” Just admit your true motive. Own it. Say it out loud. Be confident in your convictions. Proudly declare your real intentions. Or are you afraid your position is politically unpopular?

Try being like the Iowans whose rights you keep taking away. Just come out and live your authentic lives with pride. Stop pretending. Because, at this point, you’re not fooling anyone.