🏳️‍🌈Refine Legal Protections for Trans and Nonbinary Individuals
Re-Evaluating Loose Definitions to Strengthen Protections & Prevent Unintended Consequences
by Sondra Wilson. Updated July 31, 2025.

In 2007, Iowa became one of the first Midwestern states to add “gender identity” to its Civil Rights Act (The Hill, 2025). The goal was clear: protect transgender Iowans from discrimination in housing, employment, education, and public life.

At the time, “gender identity” typically referred to medically transitioning individuals diagnosed with persistent gender dysphoria — a small but highly vulnerable group facing elevated rates of violence, homelessness, and suicide (Stotzer, 2009; Turban et al., 2020). Since then, the term “transgender” has broadened considerably, expanding to include a wide spectrum of nonbinary, genderfluid, and gender-diverse identities. This evolution has outpaced the legal framework that was meant to protect us.

 

⚠️ Unintended Consequences of Broad Legal Language

While all individuals deserve dignity and legal protection, the vague definition of “gender identity” has led to confusion — not just among courts and employers, but within the broader public. This ambiguity has, ironically, weakened protections for medically transitioning transgender individuals and intensified public backlash against trans rights more broadly (APA, 2021; NPR, 2025).

For instance, cisgender men presenting as male but identifying with “she/her” pronouns may receive the same legal protections as medically transitioning transgender women. This conflation risks eroding credibility in legal enforcement and invites criticism that harms those most vulnerable — including trans people denied healthcare, facing harassment, and losing access to life-saving protections.

The path forward requires reflection, collaboration, and a refinement of law — not erasure.

 

🛡️ A Proposal for Legal Refinement

Instead of repealing gender identity protections, we propose refining them for clarity and defensibility:

“Civil rights protections shall apply to individuals with documented gender transition status, including those undergoing or who have undergone medical or legal transition, and to nonbinary individuals who demonstrate a pattern of discrimination in housing, employment, or public accommodations based on gender presentation or self-identification.”

This approach would:

  • 🧠 Prioritize protections for those at highest systemic risk (CDC, 2019; APA, 2024)

  • 🏳️ Allow access for nonbinary individuals without requiring medical intervention (Valente et al., 2020)

  • ⚖️ Provide clarity for courts, public agencies, and employers to prevent misuse and confusion

 

🏅 Related Issues: Sports and Documentation

1. Competitive Equity in Sports Civil rights law was never designed to regulate athletic competition. As awareness grows around physiological differences and fairness in sports, we must create separate legal frameworks—like Iowa’s proposed Open League—to uphold both inclusivity and competitive integrity.

2. Birth Certificates vs. Gender Marker Rights Birth certificates record sex assigned at birth—not current identity. Requiring transgender individuals to alter this foundational document to access accurate IDs is invasive and legally problematic. Instead, we propose allowing gender marker changes on driver’s licenses, passports, and state IDs through a transparent legal process—without rewriting birth records (APA, 2015; APA, 2021).

 

💬 A Personal Note from Sondra

As a transgender woman, I’ve experienced compassion from many people, but also harassment, physical and sexual assault, and severe outward bigotry over the years. I think many people who live under the trans umbrella really don’t realize the level of discrimination trans women particularly have to deal with. I will be honest: it really does bother me that a law that once kept people like me safe because watered down by people within the queer community. Why can a man with a full beard, wearing men’s clothes, demand to be called a woman? Although I’ve heard explanations for this, at the end of the day this type of situation has effectively destroyed any meaning behind the word transgender, and I suspect — based on what I have heard from a great many people on this topic — that it is these very types of situations which have led to the pushback. 

I believe it’s time to refine civil rights laws to protect the groups they were originally intended to serve — particularly the most vulnerable members of the transgender community: those undergoing medical transition. This requires specificity in terminology. The word “transgender” has broadened to the point where it no longer serves as a legally defensible category. We need clearer, more precise terms.

However, I do not believe it should fall solely on transsexuals to define protections intended for broader gender-diverse demographics. This must be a shared effort rooted in respect, clarity, and practical outcomes.

 

📬 I Welcome Your Specific Proposals

If you have a proposal for how your gender identity or demographic ought to be legally protected, please be specific and email me directly at SondraWilson4Governor@gmail.com.

Overly broad legal protections have proven ineffective — and in some cases, harmful. Now is the time for specificity, collaboration, and courageous refinement. Our community deserves civil rights laws that truly protect, uplift, and endure, and reflect accurate representation for people of varying categories.

 

🧾 References

  • American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people.
  • American Psychological Association. (2021). Resolution on gender identity change efforts.
  • American Psychological Association. (2024). Policy statement on inclusive care for transgender, gender diverse, and nonbinary individuals.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Transgender identity and experiences of violence victimization.
  • NPR. (2025, February 28). Iowa strips protections for transgender people from its civil rights act.
  • Stotzer, R. L. (2009). Violence against transgender people: A review of United States data. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(3), 170–179.
  • The Hill. (2025, February 27). Iowa lawmakers vote to remove gender identity as a protected class.
  • Turban, J. L., Beckwith, N., Reisner, S. L., & Keuroghlian, A. S. (2020). Association between gender identity conversion efforts and suicide attempts. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(1), 68–76.
  • Valente, P. K., Schrimshaw, E. W., Dolezal, C., LeBlanc, A. J., Singh, A. A., & Bockting, W. O. (2020). Stigmatization, resilience, and mental health among transgender and gender nonbinary individuals. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(7), 2649–2660.