Opinion: How new anti-LGBTQ+ laws are affecting students at Waukee

“My personal life has been hell so far.”

A sophomore at our school, burdened by recent legislation in the statehouse, said they have felt themselves pushing away the people they care about. If you haven’t been paying attention to the news lately, Governor Kim Reynolds has signed multiple bills into law that hurt and discriminate against LGBTQ+ and especially transgender youth in schools and at home. This includes our students at Waukee.

“I need support, but I’m pushing my support system away,” said the sophomore, who requested their name not be printed for safety reasons. 

“I don’t want to talk to any of the counselors- they’d only give me solutions I wouldn’t be able to do anything with,” they said. “I’ve cried every time someone has brought it up. I’m tired of this.” The series of legislative bills–several of which have already been signed into law– affects real people with real feelings. Iowa legislators need to know the consequences of their actions. 

The two bills that discriminate against transgender youth are Senate File 538 and Senate File 482. Senior Will Bower reported on the most recent bills, which prohibit gender-affirming health care for minors and place strict limitations on students’ ability to choose the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. 

Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek spoke out against the actions. “The Iowa Legislature and Gov. Reynolds have repeatedly targeted the most vulnerable students with rhetoric and legislation designed to suppress, out, target, ban, and censor Iowa’s LGBTQ+ student communities,” he said in a statement .

Students at Waukee, both in the LGBTQ+ community and not in the community, are affected by these new laws. These laws will have a harmful long-term effect on the LGBTQ+ community in Iowa. LGBTQ+ students already have to worry about so much. And now they have to be concerned about which bathroom to use and how they can get into the dressing room without actually going in. All this does is make things harder for a group that is already under attack.  

For example, will have to change show choir and theatre because we can no longer enter the opposite gender’s dressing room. Costume and makeup crews for the spring musical, Mary Poppins, had to change their setup and get men to transfer things into the men’s dressing room because our female costume crew . They can no longer assist the men in the musical because they are not allowed to step foot in their dressing room. This has been very difficult to combat, and we are working on solutions to this new problem. 

Costume coordinator for Mary Poppins Cat Bower commented on how we can support our trans and non-binary students without breaking the law. “I have faith in the fact that the Waukee School District will continue to support LGBTQ+ students regardless of whether or not they can fully transition or use their preferred restroom,” said Bower, a sophomore. “If discrimination becomes something more prominent at our schools, I fully expect it to be handled diligently as it has been in the past.”

The same WHS sophomore introduced earlier in this piece shared how this is a law and a time that will not be forgotten. “We’re taking steps back. Only more and more steps back,” they said. “I’m afraid that nothing is going to change, even as I grow older. If I ever want children, or my possible nieces and nephews, what will be taken away from them? What about my brother?” We need to take initiative to show our pain and get these bills and laws out of the capital. “If we don’t change something, someone is going to get hurt for real. And people have gotten hurt for real. History, one of my favorite things in the world, is being erased.” 

As a member of the community myself, I am disgusted, and although I do not identify as transgender myself, my heart is broken for all my friends that have to experience these horrible things. I have seen firsthand how these laws have affected my friends at Waukee in the way that they have to find alternate solutions to things like locker rooms and bathrooms. And I have also seen how this has affected my teachers, and I can see the pain and frustration behind their eyes because they cannot comment on these laws in front of students. So I will continue to be their voice. 

Governor Reynolds has expressed empathy for those harmed by enacting both these bills into law. “My heart breaks,” she told reporters. “I’ve sat down and met with [trans students]. It’s not easy. It’s not easy for me either. It’s not easy for our elected officials to make these decisions. So I just, I hope they know that.” While this statement is comforting to the Iowa youth affected by these new laws, it still does not erase or fix the damage that has already been done. 

Human Rights Campaign State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel member Cathryn Oakley commented on this bill’s passing” “Governor Reynolds has signed into law a dangerous attack on transgender youth in Iowa… It is unconscionable that the Iowa legislature and Governor Reynolds are willing to play politics with the lives of trans youth in this way. circumstances. We will not rest until every young person in Iowa can live their lives with dignity and respect.” This quote echoes the thoughts of many LGBTQ+ students and faculty. 

Some people say that Governor Reynolds is taking too much of the blame since the state House and Senate passed the bills that she signed into law. While Kim Reynolds is not the only person who thinks that these laws are good, she is still the governor and is at the forefront of all of the reactions she is receiving. 

I asked students at Waukee if you had anything to say to Kim Reynolds and the Iowa legislators. Junior Max Ferguson said, “You are making it more likely for people, INCLUDING KIDS, to commit suicide. Passing these laws is actively discriminating against LGBTQ+ people. You are making Iowa a horrible place when we were once one of the states that lead in LGBTQ+ rights. It is shameful what you are doing and it is even more shameful that you think you are doing the right thing. The rise in suicide rate in Iowa will be because of you and all of those lives are gone because of laws you decided to pass.” Nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, according to a survey from The Trevor Project. 

These laws have a clear impact on people in Iowa and all around the country. So for the sake of the LGBTQ+ community, I hope that Iowa can leave them alone and let people live their lives as authentically as they want. Waukee will always be a safe space for Queer youth. So even if Iowa Legislators don’t support us, there are faculty that do. It’s nothing big, nothing flashy. Just acceptance.