A Landmark Victory: Restoring Biological Reality in Iowa
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This week, history was made in Iowa. Senate File 418 was signed into law, removing "gender identity" as a protected class from Iowa’s Civil Rights Code. For too long, the law has been exploited to erase biological distinctions, endangering women’s spaces, sports, prisons, and shelters while fueling a system that prioritizes ideology over science. This was not a decision made lightly. It was a necessary course correction. And it’s only the beginning.
Why This Law Was Necessary
The inclusion of gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Code in 2007 was an ideological mistake, implemented without considering its long-term consequences. It allowed activists to weaponize the law, forcing institutions to adopt radical gender ideology under the guise of "civil rights." The results?
Women’s sports: Biological males competing against and dominating female athletes.
Private spaces: Girls and women forced to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers with fully intact men.
Prisons and shelters: Violent male offenders identifying as women housed with female inmates and vulnerable women.
Medical harm: Children put on irreversible hormone therapies and surgeries, with medical institutions legally protected in pushing them down this path.
Iowa is now one of 28 states that do not include gender identity in their civil rights protections. While others never adopted it, Iowa has taken the necessary step to remove it, aligning state law with federal law, biological reality and common sense.
For clarification on what this legislation does and doesn't do here is a 3 minute explanation from Representative Steve Holt.
The Harm of the Affirmation Model
While this legislative victory is a step forward, the fight is far from over. The real battleground now lies in our schools, universities, and medical institutions, where the "gender-affirming care" model remains the default approach.
What We Know About Gender Dysphoria
Through my interviews with detransitioners Chloe Cole and Laura Becker, I’ve heard firsthand how the system failed them. Both were rushed into medical transitions as teenagers, believing it would solve their struggles. Both now live with lifelong regret and permanent damage—sterility, mutilation, loss of sensation, mental health struggles—because no one questioned their dysphoria.
The stories of detransitioners are dismissed by gender ideologues, but they reveal a crucial truth: most children experiencing gender dysphoria desist naturally if allowed to go through puberty without intervention.
Up to 88% of children with gender dysphoria grow out of it if given time and support (American College of Pediatricians, 2023).
Countries like Sweden, Finland, and the UK have abandoned the "affirming" model after independent reviews found no strong evidence that puberty blockers, hormones, or surgeries improved mental health outcomes.
A social contagion? Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) disproportionately affects adolescent girls, paralleling historical surges in eating disorders and self-harm.
WPATH and the Medical Scandal
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has played a central role in promoting the affirmation model. But leaked internal communications and The WPATH Files expose a deeply unethical system:
WPATH removed age restrictions on medical transition, admitting that children cannot fully consent.
They ignore detransitioners and refuse to acknowledge long-term harm.
They pressure doctors to affirm rather than explore underlying causes like trauma, autism, or depression.
A psychiatrist in Iowa told me he felt like a "unicorn" in the profession for treating the underlying causes of gender dysphoria rather than pushing children into irreversible medicalization. This must change.
Next Steps: The Work is Far From Over
While we have removed gender identity as a protected class, we still face serious challenges:
School indoctrination: Gender ideology is embedded in curriculum, teacher training, and school policies.
Medical malpractice: The affirmation model remains the standard in major medical institutions.
Social pressure: The media and activists silence dissent and push parents to "affirm or lose their child."
What Needs to Happen Now
End gender ideology in schools: We must remove all policies forcing gender identity instruction and social transition of minors.
Hold the medical industry accountable: Lawsuits are beginning, but we need full transparency in gender medicine.
Provide real help for gender-dysphoric youth: We need therapeutic approaches that address underlying mental health conditions, not medical transition.
Spread the truth: The more people hear the facts, the harder it becomes for this ideology to survive.
Truth is Compassion
To those who claim that removing gender identity from Iowa’s Civil Rights Code is "harmful," I say this: true compassion is rooted in truth.
It is not compassionate to tell a child they were "born in the wrong body."
It is not compassionate to push a struggling teen toward irreversible hormones and surgery.
It is not compassionate to strip women of their privacy and safety in the name of inclusion.
We have made tremendous progress, but now is the time to stand even stronger. The fight for truth is just beginning.
🎥 Rep. Steve Holt on SF 418: Hear from the legislator who spearheaded SF 418 explains why this law was necessary, debunks misinformation, and highlights the importance of protecting women and children in Iowa.
Watch my interviews with those affected:
🎥 Chloe Cole’s story: At just 13, Chloe was placed on puberty blockers and testosterone. By 15, she underwent a double mastectomy. Now, she speaks out about the irreversible damage caused by gender ideology and her fight to protect others from making the same mistake.
🎥 Laura Becker’s testimony: Struggling with mental health, Laura was fast-tracked into medical transition. She later realized she had been misled, and now she advocates for ethical care for gender-dysphoric youth.
🎥 Laura Becker Update:
Laura Becker shares her personal journey of transition, detransition, and healing from trauma. We discuss the dangers of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’, her upcoming memoir Surviving the Trans Myth, and the new Daily Wire documentary Identity Crisis.
🎥 Ariella Kraus’s testimony: [HERE] - A 17-year-old from Iowa, Ariella courageously testified in support of SF 418, sharing her experience as a detransitioner and warning lawmakers about the dangers of gender ideology.