Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.

An Iowa House subcommittee will consider House File 2082 on January 31. Republican State Representative Jeff Shipley introduced this bill, which would remove gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

I wanted to start with some anecdotal story about a time when I had rights and lost them, but I could not come up with anything. Then I realized, of course I haven’t experienced this. Rights are not usually given and then taken away randomly. One might lose a driver’s license after drunk driving or speeding, but not because the government arbitrarily decided one should no longer be eligible to drive. That’s part of the problem with HF 2082.

Giving people rights and then taking them away accomplishes nothing. It only stokes distrust, anger, and division. Maybe that is the motive underlying this bill. Across the country, Republican legislators seem eager to use culture wars to instill the passion to vote. Is the purpose to place more wedges between groups of people and to alienate those who are already marginalized and bullied?

What other purpose is there in suddenly withholding a right protected by Iowa law for seventeen years, when nothing has occurred that would put the person’s right in question? It’s discrimination in its purest form—and it’s wrong. It also raises the question of which group will be targeted next. Those of us who identify as gay? Same-sex couples?

An interesting twist is that the bill purports to “protect” trans people from discrimination, by defining “a diagnosis for gender dysphoria or any condition related to a gender identity disorder” as a disability under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Perhaps some transgender people could still be protected by receiving a diagnosis of a disability, but that is not a fair, accurate assessment of the entire transgender population. In 2013, the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5^th edition) changed the diagnosis from gender identity disorder to gender dysphoria. According to the American Psychiatric Association, not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria.

So, are Iowa lawmakers now saying that being different is some kind of disability? What is meant in this bill by “any condition related to gender identity disorder”? Transgender people may struggle to determine who they are in order to become their full selves. They may face challenges in developing and maintaining their own self-worth in a society where they are not accepted. That to me doesn’t signify a disabled person, but one with strength, resilience, and integrity. Again, I raise the question: who will be targeted next?     

When ill, I have gone to urgent care waiting rooms until a doctor was free to see me. I have always welcomed being next to be seen, diagnosed and given a remedy to feel better. However, seeking unnecessary medical attention or being next to lose protections at the whim of some lawmakers is a scary place to go. I certainly hope I will never be forced to define myself as having a disability to continue being me.   

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Editor’s note: Laura Belin discussed Shipley’s history of filing anti-trans bills and previous efforts to undermine the civil rights code, as well as the forces lobbying against HF 2082.