Last Friday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a budget bill containing a provision that allows local governments or state agencies to refuse to use public dollars, including Medicaid funds, for transition-related surgeries for transgender people.
“This narrow provision simply clarified that Iowa’s Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries. This returns us to what had been the state’s position for years,” Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a statement.
The provision was added in response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision issued in March that found that the state’s previous ban prohibiting the use of Medicaid dollars for transition-related care was unconstitutional under the section of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa noted in a statement that the newly passed provision only affects “public accommodations” — which includes Medicaid — under the Civil Rights Act.
“The law did not amend or alter any other section of the Iowa Civil Rights Act or impact other government funding of transgender care, such as that provided to state employees or prisoners,” the ACLU of Iowa said in a statement.
Other LGBTQ rights groups condemned Reynold’s decision not to use a line-item veto to remove the provision, which will now be used to deny care to transgender individuals.
“It’s deeply disappointing that Gov. Kim Reynolds is caving to the pressure from some radical lawmakers in the Iowa Senate, instead of protecting the rights and dignity of transgender Iowans,” JoDee Winterhof, HRC’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs, said in a statement.
“Gov. Reynolds had the option to line-item veto this provision and leave the rest of the funding bill intact, but she did not,” Winterhof added. “This sends a strong message that she is not working for all of her constituents and a craven desire to please Iowa’s most extreme lawmakers. As a native Iowan, Iowa deserves better — and different — leaders.”
Studies of states where gender confirmation surgery is covered by Medicaid funds have not reported significant cost increases, despite claims by conservatives that covering such transition-related procedures are overly expensive.
“We are deeply disappointed that Gov. Reynolds has ignored medical experts, Iowa business leaders, cost analysis data, and the many transgender Iowans and allies who shared their stories with her to sign this bill into law,” Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, the executive director of LGBTQ rights group One Iowa Action, said in a statement accusing the governor of tarnishing the state’s reputation as a place that values fairness and equality.
“By signing this cruel legislation into law, Gov. Reynolds has told every transgender Iowan that they are second-hand citizens and unwelcome in our state,” Hoffman-Zinnel added. “Make no mistake, this law threatens people’s lives. It also won’t stand up to legal muster, and will stick taxpayers with the bill for ensuing lawsuits. Today is a shameful day to be an Iowan.”
The U.S. Air Force has issued new guidance, in two memos signed by interim assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs Brian Scarlett, detailing how transgender Airmen and Guardians will be involuntarily separated -- and denying them any chance to contest the decision.
Citing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's memo announcing compliance with President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to ban transgender service members, an Aug. 12 memo states that any Airman or Guardian with a diagnosis, history, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will be denied a waiver and involuntarily separated.
The Family Research Council is blasting Ulta Beauty for selling hair products from nonbinary reality star and hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness, best known for Netflix's Queer Eye, and for posting an Instagram video showing Van Ness in a multi-colored dress and white heels, "jumping and shrieking" with excitement as store employees unveil a display featuring a large poster of him.
The famously anti-LGBTQ group claims Van Ness' behavior mocks women and "what he perceives to be female behavior." It also notes that Ulta previously hosted a now-deleted podcast episode featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which it cites as further evidence the company promotes a caricatured view of femininity.
For the second time, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from University of Wyoming sorority members who challenged the admission of a transgender woman, arguing that she did not meet the definition of the word "woman."
"Having considered the issues presented (again), we find that the majority of the claims must be dismissed on the grounds that this Court still may not interfere with the sorority's contractually valid interpretation of its own bylaws," U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson wrote in his ruling.
The case began in 2023, when six members of the University of Wyoming’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter sued the sorority for admitting Artemis Langford, a transgender woman, and allowing her to use the campus house’s common areas -- though not live there -- according to Wyoming Public Media.
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