One Iowa, an LGBTQ advocacy group, sent an email to supporters on Monday afternoon informing them about the public hearing scheduled for this evening on a bill defining the words woman, man, female, male, mother and father.
The group is calling the bill “discriminatory” and an “LGBTQ+ Erasure Bill.”
“Our efforts are making a difference, but the governor is trying to drum up support from her base because she’s worried about opposition,” the email said.
The group added that it is hearing Iowa State Police will be “amplifying” their presence in the Capitol and are “willing to arrest folks who yell in the hallways outside committee rooms.”
“It’s still lawful to do this in the Capitol Rotunda,” the email said. “So we encourage you to congregate there. We will have folks in the crowd specifically for de-escalation.”
During subcommittee hearings the last couple of weeks LGBTQ activists have intentionally caused disturbances to drown out the testimony of Iowans who wish to testify in support of bills that the LGBTQ activists oppose.
