(Des Moines, IA) -- Another public hearing is held on Thursday on House File 583, which would take the term "Gender Identity" out of the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Protesters packed the Iowa State Capitol and were mainly opposed to the legislation. They used chants such as "Hey hey, ho ho, transphobia has got to go" and the state's motto which reads "our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain."
After noise levels paused a subcommittee meeting earlier this week, members of the Iowa State Patrol blocked the hallway outside of the room and kept the protesters in the rotunda while members of the Iowa House of Representatives heard comments.
Taylor Layden lives in Urbandale, and she tells legislators her daughter was born with XY chromosomes.
"Every intersex Iowan and transgender Iowan is also someone's child. Someone's baby," Layden says. "Please don't make existing in this state any harder than it already is for people who are different from what is considered normal to exist in the world."
Supporters of the changes, however, argue it's not about discrimination but about the rights of every woman. Tamara Scott spoke in favor of the bill.
"No one will lose a right," Scott says. "No one will lose the ability to get loans. But we'll all have the inalienable rights endowed by our creator. We'll have equality in the state once again."
Protests at the State Capitol are ongoing as legislators prepare to vote on the bill in both chambers.