Dear Friend,
This week, my home state of Iowa became the first state in the nation to revoke nondiscrimination protections for transgender people. It’s despicable, and it makes every part of me angry — as an Iowan, an atheist, a woman, and a person.
As an Iowan: Because this state’s legacy was once and not so long ago a pioneer in expanding civil rights for all. Way back in 1839, pantheists found religious freedom on these Plains. In 1851, more than a century before Loving v. Virginia, we became the third state to permit interracial marriages. Four years later, the University of Iowa opened its doors equally to men and women. In 1894, Iowa women gained the right to vote in local elections — 25 years before we ratified the 19th Amendment.
In 2007, the Iowa Legislature expanded its civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. And as recently as 2009, Iowa was still leading the way when it became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. But my state’s long and proud trajectory has taken a sharp and violent turn.
It began when Christian nationalist lawmakers, driven by their religious beliefs, succeeded in prohibiting access to books, medical care, bathrooms, and athletics. In Iowa, it’s all led here, to this week’s passage of SF 418 and the complete revocation of civil rights for a previously protected class, effective July 1. Stripped of civil rights and no longer shielded from discrimination, transgender and nonbinary Iowans will lose jobs, housing, their ability to access credit, and more.
Polls from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) show 33% of Iowans adhere to or sympathize with Christian nationalism. That’s on par with what PRRI found nationally: The vast majority of Americans are either skeptical of or outright reject Christian nationalism.
And yet, across the country, American Atheists is monitoring hundreds of bills straight out of the Christian nationalist playbook. This week alone, our Policy Team submitted testimony opposing 17 such proposals. From religious displays in public schools to religious exemptions for immunizations, we are seeing lawmakers try again and again to privilege their personal beliefs at the expense of everyone else’s rights and well-being.
At the federal level this week, the Trump Administration issued a memo directing the Pentagon to identify and fire transgender military members, and the State Department ordered officials to deny visas to transgender athletes and issue permanent visa bans against applicants they deem to have “misrepresented their sex” worldwide.
The Christian nationalist agenda threatens us all, but LGBTQ+ people and particularly transgender Americans are among those most harmed by religious stigma and anti-scientific disinformation. The LGBTQ+ community, which includes over 9% of adults in the U.S., is an integral part of our secular community. About 50% of LGBTQ+ people identify as being nonreligious, and religious hostility is the single most cited reason young Americans provide for leaving religion behind.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: American Atheists will continue opposing religiously motivated bigotry, discrimination, and disinformation. And our Policy Team will keep advocating for policies rooted in fact, not faith, that uphold the dignity, respect, and equality of all Americans. As an atheist, I strongly object to Christian nationalist lawmakers codifying their extreme beliefs into public policies that affect us all. Even while they’ve amassed a disproportionate amount of power, their oppressive ideology remains widely unpopular.
When, during Thursday’s debate, one Iowa Senator asked the bill’s sponsor whether it would surprise him to learn that more than 80% of transgender Americans experience workplace harassment and discrimination, he replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it before.” And while Iowa’s first openly transgender lawmaker delivered heartfelt remarks about the pain and suffering this legislation will cause, her colleagues across the aisle were playing actual games.
I think that pretty well sums it up — whether the bigotry behind anti-transgender rhetoric and laws is based in religious dogma or pseudoscientific ignorance, it’s as thoughtless as it is heartless.
When that lawmaker so willfully admitted his lack of consideration, the groans in the legislative chamber were audible. Over 2,000 of my fellow Iowans protested outside, and still, SF 418 passed. It took one week from bill introduction to the governor’s signature for Iowa to become the first state in the nation to repeal the civil rights of an entire community of people.
As a woman, I reject the oft-repeated lie that anti-transgender laws are for my protection. I’m endangered by religious bans on health care and by the religious extremists who want to repeal the 19th Amendment, not by my transgender friends. In fact, I fear for them — for what predictably follows this hateful rhetoric and these discriminatory laws.
And, as a person, I fear for whomever is next in the Christian nationalist’s sights should we allow the continued advance of their prejudicial and oppressive principle that some people are undeserving of protection under the law.
Our rights we must maintain,
Melina Cohen
Director of Strategic Communications & Policy Engagement
PS: If, like me, you want to do something about these religiously motivated attacks on our rights, I hope you’ll join me in Minneapolis for our National Convention, April 17–20. Whether it’s grassroots advocates, elected officials, civil rights leaders, or everyday atheists from across the country, there are actions we can — and must — all take today to fight back. Tickets are on sale and going fast! I hope to see you there.
American Atheists is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization that relies on the support of members like you. Contributions are tax-deductible. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 74-2466507 and our Combined Federal Campaign number is 52217.
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