In ancient Rome, Emperor Elagabalus defied gender norms and became a lightning rod for outrage as a result. His persecution and assassination served a political purpose: to divert attention from a crumbling, corrupt empire.
Centuries later, from 1940 to 1960, the “Lavender Scare” saw thousands of federal employees purged for being gay. Once again, fear triumphed over reason, and the true sources of instability were ignored.
We like to think we’ve grown more sophisticated, and that with knowledge comes empathy. But in Iowa — my home state, once a national leader in civil rights — the same cynical playbook is being dusted off and weaponized against transgender people.
On Feb. 28, Iowa became the first U.S. state to remove gender identity from its civil rights code. This stripped transgender Iowans of legal protection in employment, housing, education and public life. Lawmakers framed the bill as an effort to “protect girls” — a rhetorical move designed to pit one group of children against another. Opponents of the bill have called it a rollback of civil rights protections in Iowa.
As a child and adolescent psychiatrist practicing in Iowa, I see the fallout firsthand. Transgender youth already face higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide.