Iowa state Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Democrat, delivered a blistering rebuke of Republican lawmakers ahead of a controversial vote on Thursday that removed gender identity as a protected group from the state’s civil rights law, a day before Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law.
Addressing his colleagues in the Senate chamber in Des Moines, Bisignano condemned the bill as a direct attack on transgender Iowans, accusing the measure’s supporters of pushing people out of the state and ignoring the voices of thousands who protested against the legislation.
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“These people aren’t downstairs because they’ve got nothing else to do,” Bisignano said on Thursday, referencing the more than 2,500 demonstrators who flooded the Iowa Capitol ahead of the vote. “Their life’s on the line and should be taken seriously.”
Related: BREAKING: Transphobic discrimination legalized in Iowa
His remarks came just hours before Iowa Republicans voted to pass Senate File 418, which eliminates gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law on Friday, removing state-level protections for transgender individuals in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations. Iowa is now poised to become the first state in the nation to strip away an existing civil rights protection from a marginalized group.
During his speech, Bisignano blasted Republican lawmakers for refusing to engage in debate over the impact of the legislation. He took particular aim at Sen. Jason Schultz, a Republican who shepherded the bill through the body, accusing him of taking “pride” in making Iowa the first state to roll back transgender rights.
“You heard more people than I’ve ever seen in my political life, and you never speak about it,” Bisignano said. “The only thing you can’t wait to do is say the prayer in the morning. Follow what you say.”
The senator also accused his colleagues of advancing the bill out of animosity toward transgender people, arguing that most lawmakers supporting the measure had little personal knowledge of the community.
“Most of you don’t even know somebody who’s transgender,” he said. “You don’t even know ’em, but you hate ’em. You have to hate ’em because you cannot do what you’re doing today if you didn’t.”
Bisignano’s speech also struck at what he called the hypocrisy of lawmakers who cite religious faith while supporting policies that, in his view, violate fundamental moral principles.
“Shame on all of you Christians who want to keep talking about your faith when this is what God talked about,” he said. “I don’t know where you go to church, and I don’t know what you read, but being a good Christian doesn’t take much. Do unto others. Take care of your neighbor.”
In an interview with The Advocate the day after the vote, Bisignano described the deep frustration built up over the years, culminating in his impassioned remarks.
“My anger didn’t come on one situation,” he said. “This has been building for years.”
Bisignano highlighted how Republicans fast-tracked the bill through the legislature, limiting debate and rejecting all Democratic amendments that sought to preserve protections in housing, employment, and access to credit.
“We were time certain, which means that we had to vote by 3:30, and we didn’t start until 12:15. That wasn’t part of the Senate conduct—we don’t do that in the Senate,” he explained. “But this particular majority has chosen to do it on a number of large issues.”
He pointed to past legislation restricting transgender rights, such as bans on transgender girls participating in school sports and restroom restrictions. To him, this bill was the culmination of an agenda aimed at “choking transgender people out” of Iowa.
“This was just a lead-up, the prelude to finally just choke ’em out and try to eliminate them from our culture here in Iowa,” he said.
The lack of genuine debate in the chamber was particularly infuriating for Bisignano.
“When my colleague brought forth, I said, ‘Well, if you say this is all [about protecting women and children], then why don’t we eliminate the housing and the employment and the credit [elements] and all these other important things because we don’t need ’em?’” he said. “Well, no, they weren’t going to do that,” he added. “And so instead of getting up and debating the issue, Sen. Schultz chose to use the same rhetoric.”
At that moment, Bisignano decided he could no longer remain silent.
“I did not have the intention to speak to that particular amendment, but the fact that we were just starting the debate and I could see where it was going, it was time to take a role to call them out,” he said.
Bisignano shared that his passion for this issue is deeply personal. His niece, a transgender girl, has been his “guiding light,” he told The Advocate.
“She’s a sweet person, she’s lovely, she’s smart, she’s talented, and you want to dispel and disgrace and demean these people?” he said. “I’m sorry, Tony Bisignano cannot sit in a room in any capacity to see that done to anybody for anything.”
He also challenged his colleagues’ professed Christianity, noting that Schultz, the bill’s sponsor, leads a weekly Bible study at the state Capitol.
“I had to call that out because I’m a Catholic; we’re Christians. And I asked him in a speech a few days ago, ‘What Bible do you use at your Bible study? Because I’ve not seen quotes ever apply to what you’re doing here.’”
Bisignano expressed concern that many of his Republican colleagues may not have supported the bill if they had been voting in a private polling booth rather than under the pressure of Iowa’s right-wing political machine.
“I know these people on the other side. They’re friends. I’ve known some of ’em for years. I can’t believe that in their heart they believe this is the right thing to do,” he said. “But they understand that’s the only way to stay elected.”
Despite the bill’s passage, Bisignano believes that Iowa’s right-wing push to curtail rights—from LGBTQ+ protections to food assistance and Medicaid—will eventually collapse under its own weight. He said that the chaos ushered in by the new administration of President Donald Trumphas already trickled into the Iowa community, with farmers feeling the pinch of the administration’s funding freezes. Elon Musk has initiated spending cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency, which he heads.
“I just think it’s going to break. I think you can only push in so many places before you’ve just about touched everything,” Bisignano said. “They’re going to go after our SNAP program and tighten down the food to kids. They’re going to go after Medicaid and demand that they work when they’re not bright enough, obviously, to know that most people on Medicaid do work—they just don’t have health care.”
Bisignano vowed to continue speaking out, even as Republicans continue their push to roll back protections for marginalized people.
“I’m tired of this. I’m calling them on it,” he said. “Transgender people need champions and voices and not people voting against people because they’re afraid—they need somebody willing to take it on the chin, and I’m willing to do that,” Iowa State Sen. Tony Bisignano told me.
