A federal judge on Thursday blocked Title IX protections for LGBTQ students from taking effect in Iowa and several other Republican-led states. The Biden administration’s Title IX rules prohibit discrimination in education based on sexual orientation and gender identity, not just based on sex. Iowa joined a lawsuit challenging the rules, and a judge has temporarily blocked them from taking effect on August 1. Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s defending women’s rights by challenging the LGBTQ protections. The rules could possibly override Iowa’s law that requires people to use school bathrooms that align with their sex at birth. Damian Thompson with Iowa Safe Schools said she is disappointed by the ruling, but added the injunction isn’t final as Title IX challenges are likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The Title IX changes were not expected to affect Iowa’s ban on transgender women and girls competing in female sports. *Additionally, an Iowa company seeking regulatory approval to run a carbon dioxide pipeline through several states has not applied for a permit to South Dakota officials. After Summit Carbon Solutions gained approval from the Iowa Utilities Board in June, company CEO Lee Blank said that “the momentum will continue as we prepare to file our South Dakota permit application in early July.” However, that has not happened, South Dakota News Watch reports. A spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions said the delay is not tied to a citizen-led referral of Senate Bill 201, passed during the 2024 session as part of a legislative package known as the “Landowner Bill of Rights.” The timing of the application and the fact voters will have a direct say in pipeline policy points to the emergence of carbon capture, ethanol advancement and “landowner rights” as political hot topics in Siouxland states. Summit Carbon Solutions is pushing for a $5.5 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline that would carry liquified carbon dioxide gas from more than 50 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, to be stored deep underground in North Dakota.
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*In other news, the November ballot for people in Woodbury County and three other adjacent counties has gotten more full, as there is a new Democratic nominee added for an Iowa Legislature race.
In a Wednesday evening special nominating committee meeting, Rosanne Plante of Hinton was unanimously elected as Democrat to be on the ballot for Iowa House District 13
District 13 includes all of Monona County and parts of Cherokee, Plymouth and Woodbury Counties. Plante go up in the election against Republican Travis Sitzmann of Le Mars, who won the June primary election for that party.
In a release, Plante called herself a moderate Democrat. She is an attorney who said she knows “there are outstanding policies to help Iowans on both sides of the political spectrum. I support Republican ideas and policies that are good. I support Democratic policies that are good.”
Election Day is November 5, although early voting will begin prior to that.
*Additionally, Disability Rights Iowa is celebrating its 40th anniversary of advocating for and protecting the civil rights of Iowans with disabilities.
The organization has worked on issues like ensuring access to public accommodations and voting. More recently, D-R-I has filed lawsuits to improve children’s mental health care and to stop the use of certain punishments at the Boys State Training School in Eldora.
Catherine Johnson is executive director of Disability Rights Iowa. She says job accommodations, access to medical care, and a lack of long term support for people to live in their communities continue to be major issues.
“There is no one specific issue that I think faces Iowans with disabilities. It’s many of the same issues we have been addressing for years in and years out,” Johnson said.
The group is celebrating its legacy with the 40-34 Equal Access Festival this Saturday in Des Moines, that’ll also recognize the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
