Republican State Sen. Adrian Dickey has responded to The Iowa Standard’s legislative questionnaire regarding the situations at the Pella, Jefferson and Sioux Center swimming pools. Here are his responses:
- What are your thoughts on this situation involving the Pella Aquatic Center?
For the adults and the children on BOTH sides of this issue, I feel for them. To the adults and teens who feel compelled to express themselves in this manner (and not simply for a “shock value”), I am sure there have been many days of difficulty. To the parents of children who have been exposed to these incidents, I too feel bad for the situation that was brought upon your children, the questions that followed, and the difficulty this subject has caused.
However, we all live in a society of accepted norms. While we might not like all of them, they are the rules of behavior that our society considers as acceptable. This is a great example of where a very small minority is trying to force upon the Iowa majority to accept things that hold no common sense and trying to force them to change what they view as acceptable. These incidents are an example of how horrible policy interpretation has reshaped the way average Iowans live, or more so, how the intentions of something good (stopping discrimination) have been uglied by being taken to the extreme. An extreme, far from what the norms of society have accepted.
Iowans also are against our children being exposed to indecent exposure, no matter where it is. So if the vast majority of Iowans say it is not acceptable for our children to be in a strip club, when exactly did the social norms of the Iowa majority change and give approval for our children to see the same things in a public place? Also, Iowans do not approve of discrimination, the reason the code was changed in 2007. BOTH examples are common sense and the very reason I ran for the Senate this past winter, to protect what common sense looks like.
If someone comes up to a child in a public park and “flashes” them, our commonsense society would demand (and the courts would agree) that the flasher would be charged with indecent exposure. If the “flasher” said he/she was transgender, does that then make it ok? Just because the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity was added into the Civil Rights Code in 2007 does not mean that indinitely expanding that protection should trump everything else that the majority of Iowans view as common sense and what acceptable behaviors are. I can say with most certainty, that common sense Iowans have not changed their opinion on this. Common sense Iowans do not need a list of 52 different genders to determine the difference between a man or a woman, they can see the difference for themselves…… and in this case, the majority of Iowans do NOT want their children to SEE it while they are still children.
I think what is the most upsetting to the vast majority of Iowans that are calling for this to stop, is that they would be the first to defend anyone that was being discriminated against for ANY reason. Their outcry on this issue is NOT because they are racist, sexist, or anything else, it is simply because exposing our children to these extreme events is simply not socially acceptable.
2. Should individuals, minors included, be allowed to wear swimwear based on their gender identity rather than body parts?
All individuals should wear swimwear that covers up their God-given body parts. Body parts that if they are exposed in public would be subject to a ticket for indecent exposure under Iowa Code 709.9. And yes, since the entire nature of this conversation centers around common sense, common sense to the majority of Iowans would include a woman’s breasts needing to be covered in the scope of indecent exposure, especially in the presence of children.
3. Do you support removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights code?
All men, women, and the 52 different genders (that have now been identified), should be free from discrimination. Allowing anyone to be discriminated against would be as radical, and as wrong, as allowing someone to walk into a public pool in a manner that would cause for an indecent exposure ticket to be issued, and forcing the majority of Iowans to accept it, regardless of their claimed gender identity.
VIEW PREVIOUS ANSWERS BELOW:
Rep. Salmon responds to TIS legislative questionnaire on Pella pool incident, policy
Rep. Wills responds to TIS legislative questionnaire on Pella pool incident, policy
Rep. Thompson: In Pella pool situation, it is on legislature to remedy the matter
