On Saturday, April 1, from 5:15 to 6 p.m., Decorah community members gathered on the steps of the Winneshiek county courthouse to speak out against the most recent anti-trans legislation in the state. 

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law Senate File 538 on Wednesday, March 22. SF 538 places a ban on all gender-affirming care for minors within the state of Iowa. The bill also bans tissue reconstruction surgeries, the removal of  “healthy non diseased body parts”, and sterilization surgeries on minors. Governor Reynolds also signed into action Senate File 482 which requires individuals in school to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender they were assigned at birth. 

In response to these laws, LGBTQIA+ community members and allies rallied in disapproval.  The crowd was made up of a vast range of individuals of all ages. One attendee was Decorah Junior High eighth grader Ava Hansen. Hansen spoke publicly at the rally about their experience LGBTQIA+ middle school students. 

“Coming out [to events like this] is so important because it sucks to have to live your whole life in fear of who you are,” Hansen said. “Secondly, people demand and deserve basic respect, so we need to give them a space for that.” 

Supporters of SF 538 and SF 482 claim that to be designed to protect society’s youth; however, rally attendees disagreed. Speaker and Luther College Identity Studies student Max Koeller (‘24) spoke directly to this in her speech. 

“They [state legislators] claim it is about protecting our youth, but if they really cared about LGBTQIA+ youth, they would understand that this type of care is life saving, not life threatening,”  Koeller said. 

The rally was hosted by Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Identity Studies Holly Moore, alongside community activists Decorah Pride, and Luther College Pride. Moore spoke about what went into planning an event of this caliber. 

“I’d seen a few weeks ago that the March for Queer and Trans Youth Autonomy would be a nationwide event, and I put out some feelers to see if others in the community might be interested in planning one for Decorah,” Moore said. “Last Sunday, I decided to move forward with it and with the help of a few friends, created a Facebook event, had posters printed, connected with the Decorah Human Rights Commission and Luther Pride for help distributing flyers, and shared the information about the event with many local social justice-minded groups.”

Moore and other community activists urge Luther students and community members to educate themselves about anti-trans policies, particularly Senate File 496 “Don’t Say Gay or Trans Bill ” which removes HPV and HIV education as a requirement for K-12 schools. There is also a major push for non-LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals to make efforts to better understand those who this bill more directly affects. 

“Educate yourself about queer and trans people, their lives and histories, and learn more about other marginalized groups, because queer and trans people are everywhere,” More said. “when we work for justice for the most vulnerable for instance, incarcerated Black trans women, we work for justice for all of us.” 

For those who wish to be involved in the fight for Trans Youth Autonomy contact your state representatives and follow the link to this flyer for more information.