The state of Iowa has a history of being progressive with many of its social policies and laws.

So why, in a state that was one of the first to allow gay marriage and has some of the most inclusive civil rights laws, is our hate crime law so outdated and excluding so many? The Iowa Legislature needs to improve our hate crime law so it can be more inclusive and protective of all of Iowa’s citizens.

Put simply, a hate crime in Iowa includes any assault, trespassing or criminal mischief incident committed against a person or person’s property because of the person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability or because of association with a person of any of those categories. While this law may seem inclusive to most people, it falls short in three major areas: harassment, gender identity and perception.

Some of these terms are included in the federal hate crime law, so the simple argument that the law has not caught up to the times is not valid. If our federal hate crime law can be so inclusive and protective, shouldn’t we demand better of our state law?

First, Iowa’s hate crime law fails to include harassment as one of the offenses that qualify as a hate crime. Harassment is a continued unwanted act by a person or group toward another. Because of this, any person being harassed because of the person’s race, religion or any other category listed in the law, is not protected under the hate crime law. This fails to protect Iowans because anyone who commits harassment against someone because of the person’s association with any of these identities will not be punished like other hate crime offenders.

Second, while the law does include sex, it is a much different category than gender identity. Sex often refers to a person’s anatomy, while gender refers to a person’s social identity. Therefore, if a person or a person’s property is attacked because of that person’s gender identity, the act is not a hate crime in Iowa. 

The final major, and perhaps most glaring, omission in Iowa’s hate crime law is the phrase “or perceived.” This phrase is included in the federal hate crime law. Because this phrase is not included in Iowa’s law, assault, trespassing or criminal mischief against another because the offender perceives the victim as gay, christian, black or anything else under the protected categories when the victim actually is not, does not qualify as a hate crime.

This raises the question — how can victims prove they are of a certain race, sexual orientation or religion if need be when a hate crime is being prosecuted? What if a person is gay but not out to the community? Will it count as a hate crime if the offender perceives the victim as gay?

These are questions that should not have to be asked when it comes to hate crimes. Students on campus, especially those with disabilities or some of those in the LGBTQA+ community, are particularly vulnerable because our state’s hate crime laws do not protect them. But isn’t that exactly why we have a hate crime law in the first place?

It’s time for our state’s legislature to update the hate crime law and be as inclusive and protective as other hate crime laws. Our federal government has shown these adjustments can be made, so why isn’t Iowa’s Legislature updating laws to protect all Iowans? Many simply are not safe because of it.