Sources have told The Iowa Standard that a bill addressing gender identity and school bathrooms will not advance through the Iowa Senate. Senate File 224, a bill that would require public and nonpublic schools to designate and allow the use of multiple occupancy restrooms to only people of the same biological sex, passed an Iowa Senate subcommittee last year, but wasn’t allowed a hearing in the Iowa Senate Education Committee.
We are hearing there will not even be a subcommittee hearing on the effort this year.
Opponents of the bill have noted the inclusion of gender identity in Iowa’s Civil Rights Code as a reason such a bill should not advance.
There are efforts to remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Code in the Iowa House, but thus far it has failed to receive close to the support necessary to advance.
And the House, sources say, is where much of the opposition to these bills reside. One source told The Iowa Standard the Senate isn’t going to do anything with the bathroom bill because House Republicans lack the support and interest in taking the issue up.
Last year, a biological female was allowed to be topless at the Pella swimming pool due to the Civil Rights Code. Earlier this school year, West Des Moines parents expressed concern when a student made a habit of using the bathroom opposite their biology.
Other than about a dozen of them, House Republicans have failed to even appear interested in addressing these issues.
My young adult Grandsons are like House Republicans and have failed to even appear interested stopping girls from going topless. Their main concern is the cost of fuel for their pick-up trucks…