The state of Iowa will pay $85,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by LGBTQ+ students and advocates who were expelled from the Iowa Capitol in 2020 after transgender students were told they could not use bathrooms matching their gender identity.
The payout comes just six months after Iowa became the first state in the U.S. to remove gender identity as a protected class from its civil rights laws.
The 2020 Incident
In 2020, Iowa Safe Schools, an LGBTQ+ youth advocacy group, organised a visit of about 150 students and chaperones to the Capitol to meet lawmakers.
According to then–executive director Nate Monson, state troopers directed several transgender students away from gendered restrooms, insisting they could only use gender-neutral facilities.
When Monson challenged the troopers, citing state law at the time, the group was told to leave the Capitol grounds entirely and warned they would be arrested if they returned.
“The civil rights code includes gender identity,” Monson recalled telling a trooper. “He told me it did not. Then I told him yes, it did. And he said, ‘Well it doesn’t include bathrooms.’”
The Lawsuit and Settlement
The students and group leaders filed suit in 2022, alleging sex-based discrimination, harassment, and unlawful retaliation.
Under the settlement, approved by the Iowa State Board of Appeals, the state will pay $85,000 to the plaintiffs. The agreement does not include an admission of wrongdoing.
Attorney Devin C. Kelly, representing the plaintiffs, said:
“These individuals were exercising their constitutional and civil rights when they were singled out and removed from the Iowa Capitol solely because of their identity and their affiliation with an LGBTQ+ organisation. At a time when LGBTQ+ Iowans and their families continue to face growing challenges, this settlement reaffirms a simple truth: all Iowans are equal under the law.”
Legal Protections Rolled Back
In a letter to the Board of Appeals, state attorney Jeffrey Peterzalek noted the lawsuit “would now not be allowed” under Iowa’s newly updated Civil Rights Act.
Earlier this year, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation making Iowa the first state in the country to remove a previously protected class — gender identity — from its civil rights code. The law took effect July 1, 2025.
