Iowa Removes Gender Identity Discrimination Protections

Author: Emily Scace, Brightmine Senior Legal Editor

March 3, 2025

In a first-of-its-kind bill, Iowa has removed gender identity as a protected characteristic under the state's antidiscrimination laws.

Gender identity was first added to the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA) as a protected characteristic in 2007. The ICRA, which applies to employers with four or more employees, prohibits employment discrimination in hiring, firing, compensation and other employment decisions.

With the passage of S.B. 418, which takes effect July 1, 2025, employees and job applicants in Iowa no longer have a remedy under state law if they experience job discrimination or harassment because they are transgender or nonbinary. However, some localities in Iowa continue to prohibit gender identity-based discrimination.

The Iowa law comes amid a string of developments aiming to strip legal protections from transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Executive Order 14168, which President Trump issued on January 20, directed federal agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to adopt strictly biological definitions of sex, male, female and related terminology when interpreting or applying laws and guidance. 

While the EEOC had previously taken an active role in pursuing enforcement against employers that engaged in gender-identity discrimination, recent changes in agency leadership have caused an about-face. Acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a January 28 statement that "defend[ing] the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights" is a top priority, and the agency has moved to dismiss multiple lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender employees.

In 2020, the Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is a form of unlawful sex-based discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal antidiscrimination law that applies to employers with 15 or more employees. That decision is still federal law.

Just under half of US states explicitly name gender identity as a protected characteristic in their employment discrimination laws, and many localities provide similar protections.