HF 2274: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

House File 2274, filed by Jeff Shipley (R) from Van Buren County, would create “an act requesting an interim study committee on gender identity, the Iowa civil rights Act of 1965, and suicide by  transgender individuals.”

The study committee shall explore the application of gender identity as a protected class as it relates to prisons, schools, private enterprise, freedom of expression, and other areas of relevance to determine if statutory changes pertaining to the terms “gender”, “gender identity”, “woman”, “sex”, or to other matters under chapter 216 are necessary or advisable.

That sounds good, doesn’t it? It is always refreshing to see our elected officials take an objective, in depth look at legislative issues so that they are better informed about the facts when they write their bills.

The thing is, something about it sounds off to me. I don’t think the author of this bill is being honest about its stated goal. Here is what I know: Jeff Shipley, (R) from Van Buren County, has a history of support for pseudoscience, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, pro-theocracy, and pro “religious freedom” bills designed to privilege his Christian religion. Last year he sponsored HF 258, a typical RFRA bill; HF 187, a bill to ban fluoride additives in public water supplies, HF 332, a bill promoting alternative medicine, and HF 257, a bill to cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood and similar organizations.

Could he have had an epiphany over the summer and now loves science? Maybe. Let’s just say his track record for evidence-based legislation does not inspire confidence.

The second paragraph of the bill includes this:

In recognition that each and every human being is afforded dignity and valued as a child of God, the goal of the study committee shall be to engage in rigorous examination and expansive dialogue regarding issues relating to gender identity in order to end the tragedy of suicide by transgender individuals in this state.

So the premise of this bill is faith, not evidence.

Finally, the interim committee would consist of ten members, with six of the ten appointed by the majority party, i.e. Republicans.

I don’t trust Shipley or the GOP House and Senate leaders to conduct to conduct a fair or objective study of gender identity, LGBTQ rights, and transgender suicides. Maybe they will surprise me, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair


SF 2130: Fraudulent Concealment of Sexual Orientation

Sorry folks. I’ve been slacking. So many horrible bills have been filed this last week. I’ll do my best to catch up.

Let’s start with Iowa Senate File 2130, sponsored by Dennis Guth (R) from Hancock County. This bill would require all marriage licenses to include the sexual orientation of each person who signs it. Failure to do so would be an offense called, “Fraudulent Concealment of Sexual; Orientation. (FCSO).” It wouldn’t be a crime, per se. But it’s certainly meant to punish LGBTQ persons who come out of the closet after they get married. This “offense” comes in to play during divorce proceedings that involve child custody.

If a court finds that one of the people involved in the dissolution proceeding is guilty of FCSO, that persons would irrevocably lose their child custody rights. According to this bill, FCSO would outweigh any other consideration in awarding custody of children.

In other words, this bill outs LGBTQ persons on their marriage licenses — a searchable, public document. It portrays LGBTQ people as dangerous threats to their own children. It violates their right to privacy in the most public way imaginable. And finally it establishes in Iowa law the Christian privilege that marriage only applies to heterosexual unions.

Why is David Guth — like the God he worships — so inordinately obsessed with what his constituents do in the privacy of their own bedrooms? What business does he have interfering with the lives of people who have committed no moral or — until now — legal crime?

If you live in Dennis Guth’s district, please call or email him and let him know that this is a moral mucous stain of a bill that you will remember on November 3. If you don’t live in Guth’s district, call your state senators and representatives and tell them to vote against this horrible bill.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Secular Planks for the Caucuses: Get Them Here!

I’ve been working with Justin Scott to develop secular planks for the Iowa Caucuses. They are ready to go. Just send him an email at iowaatheist247@gmail.com with your county and the party you plan to caucus with. He will respond with a pdf containing all the planks which you can print off at your leisure.

We have planks written for both Republican and Democratic Caucuses.

The Caucuses are two days out as I write this. How many separate precincts can we submit them to? Let’s hit them all folks. Get your caucus planks now and then get out there Monday evening and make a difference.

I am including a short post from Justin below with more information.

Nonreligious focused planks are ready to go for both the Republican and Democratic caucuses in Iowa! If you'd like to get a copy of them, please email me at iowaatheist247@gmail.com with the subject line: Planks Please!

Include in your email what party you're going to caucus for and what county you're in. I'll reply back with a PDF of all of them so you can flip through them, pick which ones you want to print off and take with you to your caucus! Encourage your secular friends to email me if they're interested as well! 

Thank you! Let's make a HUGE impact Monday night in more ways than just picking who the winner(s) is! 

#AtheistVoter

P.S. These planks are NOT connected with American Atheists or any group around the state of Iowa. Due to unforeseen challenges, we weren't able to make these official. These are just from my own skimming through both party platforms the past few weeks. That's not an issue though as they'll get the job done Monday night regardless!

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Christian Nationalists Take Aim at Public School Teachers

I despise bothsidesism. It is the bane of modern journalism — a form of false equivocation that encourages conflict by giving both sides of any conflict equal weight — even when even when one side deserves it and the other doesn’t.

A bill just filed in the Iowa Legislature weaponizes bothsidesism and uses it as a threat to control what public school teachers can talk about in their classes. House File 2184 would make it a potential crime for teachers to engage in “political or ideological advocacy while carrying out student instruction or otherwise acting within the scope of employment by a school district.”

HF 2184 would give teachers a stark choice: 1) stop teaching “controversial issues” altogether as a threat to their license, or 2) give every controversy the Both Sides treatment.

The bill defines “controversial issue” as any issue that is addressed in an electoral party platform at the local, state, or federal level. 

Teachers would have to navigate through the minefield of every topic mentioned in every political platform in the country so that they don’t inadvertently step on a controversial issue. 

And if they ever do express an opinion on one of these dicey subjects, they would be forced to give equal weight to both sides, pro and con, so that students could make up their own minds and disagree without penalty.

That sounds innocuous but it is not. It’s a Trojan Horse for anti-science and religious dogma. It would force biology classes to include creationism. If a teacher mentions global warming, denialists would demand equal time. The list of potentially career-ending topics is depressingly long.

I am posting links and emails for the nine Representatives who sponsored this bill below. Remember those names, folks. Get angry. Send emails. Call your Senators and Representatives. We cannot allow this bill to pass. If it does become law, sane people will challenge it in court, but its authors want nothing more than to push it all the way to SCOTUS.They want Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to engrave their Christian privilege in Federal Law on a level they could only dream about until now. Don’t let that happen.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair

Punching Down in the Iowa Statehouse

Here it is folks. A group of Republicans in the Iowa House just filed HF 2164, a bill to remove gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965. If this bill passes, it will once again be legal in Iowa to discriminate against LGBTQ people in matters of public accommodations, employment, apprenticeship and on-the-job training programs, vocational schools, career and technical education programs, and housing.

The sponsors of this bill are: Tedd Gassman, Dean Fisher, Anne Osmundson, Terry Baxter, Thomas Gerhold, Phil Thompson, Tom Jeneary, Skyler Wheeler, and Sandy Salmon. I want you to know who is to blame for this travesty of a bill. All of them are Conservative Christians. I guess nothing says “Jesus loves you” like stripping persecuted groups of their basic human rights and kicking them when they are down.

If I see any of these folks walking towards me on a sidewalk, I will happily fart in their general direction. I don’t understand how they can sleep at night.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair