Coralville City Council follows Iowa City, whose council members passed a similar resolution in August, along with six Iowa school districts in affirming protections against gender identity-based discrimination.
The resolutions passed by Coralville and Iowa City were drafted with the help of the Johnson County Trans Advisory Committee, which works to raise awareness of issues impacting transgender, gender non-conforming and nonbinary people.
“We need our institutions and our governments to stand with us against continuing attacks by the state and federal government.”Sean McRoberts, member of the Johnson County Trans Advisory Committee
“Trans people need your leadership, need your allyship, particularly in Coralville, but also across this region,” Sean McRoberts, a member of the committee, said at the city council meeting. “We need our institutions and our governments to stand with us against continuing attacks by the state and federal government.”
Allison Bywater of Coralville, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa studying antitransgender legislation in Iowa.
“My participants, my clients and my child deserve to grow up knowing that their city protects their rights even when other levels of government fall short,” Bywater said. “They deserve to ride the Coralville bus, visit the library and go to school without wondering if who they are will be used against them.”
Local leaders cement protections for gender as state law changes
Although Chapter 26 of Coralville city code prohibits gender identity-based discrimination, some council members said this year’s push by state lawmakers to remove gender identity as a protected class means local governments should step in to protect members of the LGBTQ community.
“I would not want for anyone who looks different to walk down the street and fear for their own safety just because they identify differently or they look different,” said Council member Hai Huynh, who voted for the resolution. “Nobody should have to carry that fear. We can’t do anything as far as state and federal law, but we can do something right here in Coralville.”
Mayor Meghann Foster said the Equal Protections Resolution is one way the city is reconsidering how it operates as the political ground shifts.
“I think that right now, stuff like this is very important because of the climate that we are in, because we have got to be abundantly clear about where we stand,” Foster said. “This will not solve everything that is happening. But it is an important show of support.”
Iowa State Code permits local governments to make their own additions to the state’s nondiscrimination standards, which no longer include gender identity.
The council voted 4-1 in favor of the resolution. Council member Rich Vogelzang was the lone dissenting vote, raising what he said were procedural concerns about protecting specific groups.
“Everything that is in this proposed document is already covered in detail in our current ordinance, and in my opinion, to pass this proposed document just seems like an appeasement to the LGBTQ community,” Vogelzang said in an Oct. 7 email to Foster obtained by IPR News.
In the email and at the meeting, Vogelzang asked what it would mean, procedurally, to pass the resolution.
“What would happen if another specific minority population would request a resolution to call attention to their unique interest or concerns?” Vogelzang said. “Let’s say a group of single Black men over the age of 75, or an organization of Asian women, would request a resolution?"
Some members of the public who saw the email ahead of the city council meeting addressed Vogelzang directly.
“I feel like what the council member in this email failed to mention in a hypothetical scenario is that the state Legislature and the federal government have passed and are pursuing more laws that remove the rights of trans and nonbinary people,” said Katie Dennis, a resident of Coralville.
Others urged the city to move forward with the resolution despite possible redundancies that might come from reaffirming existing city code.
“You only need to listen to those telling you that they’re scared and that this resolution would make them feel safer in our community,” said Ryan Swenka, who lives in Coralville. “In five, 10, hopefully not 20 years when the community isn’t under attack, maybe we can remove some redundancies and clean up our books. But tonight, I hope that you provide this reaffirmation and commitment to our friends and neighbors.”
Although Coralville city code protects people from gender identity-based discrimination, the resolution directs the city attorney to take certain protective actions considering the removal of gender identity from Iowa State Code.
It also ensures city staff are trained on the city’s protections against gender-identity discrimination, and that Coralville’s elected leaders will encourage county and city officials throughout the state to use their authority to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination.
