Iowa’s first legislative funnel has come and gone, and along with it, good and bad bills were left in the dust for this legislative session. A large victory to come out of the funnel is the failure of all 15 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills to make it through, thus protecting LGBTQIA+ Iowans.

The funnel in Iowa’s legislature is a weeding-out process where only the bills with the most support get to pass through, meaning the legislative process can continue to move forward. The funnel ended March 5, meaning the bills that didn’t make it out of committee are essentially dead, and lawmakers won’t have an opportunity to vote on them. 

When the funnel ended, all 15 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills were essentially dead for this legislative session in Iowa. The bills were: SF 80, HF 170, HF 184, HF 187, HF 193, SF 167, HF 272, HF 326, HF 327, HF 334, SF 224, HF 340, HF 341, HF 405 and SF 436. 

The issues in the bills ranged from preventing transgender Iowans from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity and preventing transgender students from participating in sports, to removing gender identity as a class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act and denying medically necessary care for transgender youth. All terrible things; all now dead. All draconian views from times that have long past; all now dead. This is a victory for all LGBTQIA+ Iowans.

All Iowans, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, deserve to live happy and healthy lives, and that means access to health care and bathrooms relevant to their gender identity as well as protections under the law. The failure of these bills to pass ensures that LGBTQIA+ Iowans have those protections for at least another year.

Another victory coming alongside the failures of those bills is HSB 11 passing the funnel, meaning it can still be debated and passed this legislative session. 

House Study Bill 11, introduced Jan. 12, would ban the LGBTQIA+ panic defense. The LGBTQIA+ “panic” defense strategy is a legal strategy that asks a jury to find a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression to blame for a defendant’s violent reaction, including murder.

We, as the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board, support this bill and would like to see it passed. It not only protects LGBTQIA+ Iowans, but an amendment was added strengthening the language of the bill and banning all forms of the panic defense, thus protecting all marginalized communities. This is an important bill and it is long overdue that it be passed.

However, not everything to come after the funnel has been good on the front of LGBTQIA+ rights. 

Amendment H-1159 was filed to HF 808 on March 10. This amendment would ban transgender inclusion in school sports, including collegiate sports. This means sports at all levels from K-12 to community colleges and regent universities would be forced to ban transgender students from participating on a team relevant to their gender identity. This amendment is incredibly discriminatory and directly attacks transgender people across Iowa. 

We, as the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board, condemn this bill and do not support its passage. School extracurriculars such as sports are vital to social and emotional learning in schools, and all students, no matter their gender identity, deserve to have the right to participate in them.

Call your representatives and ask them to fight this anti-LGBTQIA+ amendment because more often than not, there is an LGBTQIA+ person in your life, whether they are your child, your sibling, your parent, your friend or your coworker. They are there and they need your support.