From Hate to Hope: Trans Legislator in Iowa Vows to Keep Fighting
Aime Wichtendahl has broken barriers in Iowa for years. She has more in mind, despite the assembly’s “gut-wrenching” move to revoke civil rights for trans people.
by Valorie Van-Dieman
Aime Wichtendahl, who last fall became the first trans person elected to the Iowa state legislature, arrived at the Capitol just in time to have the assembly strip her of her civil rights. “It's gut-wrenching to know that your government hates you,” Wichtendahl said in an interview with Assigned Media, “or considers you so disposable that it can just take your rights out of code.”
But Wichtendahl, 45, a veteran Democratic office holder and advocate for trans rights, sees plenty of reason for hope and a clear path forward, if long and multi-faceted. From the floor of the state House, Wichtendahl had spoken eloquently against the anti-trans measure that removed gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, effectively legalizing discrimination against us.
Speaking out, as Wichtendahl did that day in late February – and showing up, as the hundreds of trans people and allies who filled the Capitol Rotunda to denounce the legislature’s action – is step one in fighting back.
“The short term looks like continuing to fight, never be silenced, never obey in advance, and just trying to keep our community together,” Wichtendahl said in our interview. A week after the anti-trans measure was adopted, more than a thousand businesses across the state pledged to support trans equality and maintain welcoming, inclusive spaces. In Iowa City, Trans Day of Visibility was expanded to an entire week of events to celebrate our lives and highlight the government-sponsored discrimination.
It's clear that many people across Iowa disagree with the decision of their legislators, including some Republicans.
Wichtendahl pointed to Norlin Mommsen, one of the six Republicans who voted against the anti-trans measure despite pressure from party leadership. “Well, he ignored the advice of the party leadership, went to his town hall and received a standing ovation for voting against the bill, and he's in a pretty conservative district, so I don't believe that this bill is popular with Iowans.”
Protests and resistance, while important, will not be enough to reinstate rights for trans people, she warned. “The second track is really to start laying the groundwork to try to reverse this legislatively. What that means is trying to get a new governor in 2026.” Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor who signed into law the discriminatory anti-trans measure, is eligible to run for another term though she has been dogged by low approval ratings.
Beyond that, Wichtendahl envisions “gradually taking back the majorities in both the House and the Senate and to be able to legislatively reverse these bills, I know that's probably more of the longer term goal just because it's going to likely take several cycles to go ahead and accomplish.”
Her own political career in Iowa is an example in breaking barriers.
Wichtendahl has the distinction of being the first transgender elected official of any kind in Iowa, initially winning a seat on Hiawatha’s City Council in 2015 and being re-elected twice before running for her current seat in the state House of Representatives last fall. She officially assumed office in January of this year – just a month before the Republican-controlled government pushed to revoke her civil rights and those of thousands of other trans Iowans.
“This bill revokes protections to our jobs, our homes and our ability to access credit. In other words, it deprives us of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness,” Wichtendahl said from the House floor in opposition to the measure. The initial passage of civil rights protections for trans Iowans two decades ago, Wichtendahl told lawmakers, had ensured stability and safety for her family and countless others, The Gazette reported.
Wichtendahl, who represents the Cedar Rapids area in the legislature,continues to work for other issues that she first championed as a local official. Her campaign for Hiawatha City Council in 2015 ran on the slogan “Stand With Small Businesses”.
In our interview, she also spoke out against the recently proposed changes to Iowa’s Medicaid requirements that, it is estimated, would see around 30,000 Iowans lose their healthcare.
“Taking away anyone’s health care is monstrous and inhumane. It's the same kind of motivation that drives the gender identity bill. It's a fundamental lack of humanity and belief in humanity for the people of Iowa, that they're just willing to sacrifice people's lives for political points.”
For Wichtendahl, these issues form a unifying theme. “We need to keep speaking out, to keep demonstrating and just to tell lawmakers, ‘Listen, we're not going anywhere and we're not going to stop fighting.’ These are our basic fundamental freedoms and our basic human rights, and we're never going to stop fighting for them and you're not going to silence us.”
Valorie Van-Dieman (she/they) is a reporter and editorial assistant at Assigned Media. @valorievandieman.bsky.social