Hunter
03/21/24
Members of Iowa City’s transgender community and their allies are demanding the city enact sanctuary status.
The Daily Iowan reports around 20 community members spoke during the public comment section of this week’s City Council meeting. Dozens more residents filled all the seats in the council chambers. More attendees spilled out of the chambers and stood in the lobby.
Speakers talked about feeling unsafe in Iowa because of recent legislation like the “bathroom bill” that bans transgender students from using restrooms at public schools that don’t match their sex assigned at birth, and changes to gender-affirming health care.
The transgender community wants the city to pass policies that ignore those laws and not criminally charge anyone who defies them. Iowa enacted a bill in 2018 in response to cities in the state that said they wouldn’t commit resources to the enforcement of federal immigration laws. That bill would revoke state funding that violates federal immigration law and acting as a sanctuary city.
The student paper also reported that the council Tuesday presented a proclamation recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility, which is on March 31. The proclamation recognized the state’s recent legislation surrounding transgender individuals and reiterated support for the city’s transgender community.