Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in the U.S. state of Iowa have evolved significantly in the 21st century. Iowa began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on April 27, 2009, following a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, making Iowa the fourth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples may also adopt, and state laws ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations. In February 2025, the Iowa Legislature passed a bill with a 'veto-proof majority' to completely remove "gender identity" from the state's anti-discrimination laws—a measure that was originally implemented in 2007. Iowa governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law, which went into effect on July 1, making Iowa the first state to remove anti-discrimination protections for any class of people.

History and legality of same-sex sexual activity Prior to European settlement of Iowa in the early 19th century, several Native American tribes inhabited the area. These include the Dakota and Omaha peoples. Among these people groups, perceptions toward gender and sexuality differed significantly from that of the Western world. The Dakota recognize individuals known as winkta who were assigned male at birth but act and behave as women. Likewise, the Omaha refer to such individuals as mix'uga.

When the Iowa Territory was established in 1838, it adopted all its laws from the Wisconsin Territory. This included an anti-sodomy law providing punishment of up to three years' imprisonment. In 1843, shortly before statehood, the Iowa Territorial Legislature enacted Iowa's first criminal code. It made no mention to sodomy, making it legal in Iowa. In 1860, the Iowa Supreme Court, in the case of Estes v. Carter, noted the lack of such a law. The state made no effort to overturn this decision or enact a sodomy law.

In 1892, a statute was enacted, providing for imprisonment of between one and ten years for sodomy, whether heterosexual or homosexual. The law punished consensual activity as well. The first criminal conviction occurred in 1900, in the case of State v. Todd. Fellatio (oral sex), whether heterosexual or homosexual, was made criminal in 1902. Over the following years, the courts convicted multiple people of sodomy. In 1911, the state passed a sterilization law, under which "moral or sexual perverts" could be sterilized; anyone twice convicted would be immediately sterilized. In 1914, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Iowa overturned this law as unconstitutional. The state appealed, and in 1917, in Davis v. Berry et al., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling. 49 people were sterilized under the law. In 1929, however, the state enacted a new sterilization law. This law, different from the previous one as it guaranteed some due process rights to the defendants, was not overturned until 1977. By 1948, 891 Iowans had been sterilized under the statute. In 1955, the state passed a psychopathic offender law, under which any person "having criminal propensities toward the commission of sex offenses" would be treated as "mental psychopaths" and sent to psychiatric hospitals. That same year, the murder of a boy in Sioux City led to the mass detention of several gay men who were sent to asylums, despite none of them having been convicted of the crime.

In 1976, in a bitterly divided 5–4 ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court held that heterosexual sodomy could not be prosecuted. "There [is] no compelling state interest in the manner of sexual relations performed in private between consenting adults of the opposite sex not married to each other", the court wrote. It did not address same-sex sexual activity in its ruling.

The state's law criminalizing same-sex sexual activity was repealed in 1978.William N. Eskridge, Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America, 1861-2003 (NY: Penguin Group, 2008), 201n, available online, accessed April 10, 2011 Following the 1976 Supreme Court ruling, which held that heterosexual relations could not be prosecuted under the state's sodomy statute, the Iowa General Assembly passed a comprehensive criminal code which made no mention to sodomy. The age of consent is 16, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

In 1976, Tracy Lee Bjorgum and Kenneth Bunch, from Solon, Iowa, filed one of the first lawsuits in the country seeking the right of same-sex couples to marry. Lee Bjorgum was a 20-year-old student at the University of Iowa. Bunch was a custodian at the University of Iowa hospitals, as well as a spokesperson for the Gay Liberation Front. Saying they wanted "the right to exist", the men appeared in Johnson County District Court, and requested a marriage license. It was denied. Months later they did the same in Polk County, were again denied, and the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit on their behalf, but the lawsuit was unsuccessful.

Iowa has provided benefits to same-sex partners of state employees since 2003.National Conference of State Legislatures: "States offering benefits for same-sex partners of state employees" , accessed April 16, 2011

Iowa has allowed for state recognition of same-sex marriages performed in and out of the state since April 3, 2009, after the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld a ruling by the Polk County District Court in Varnum v. Brien which effectively forced the state to rescind any outstanding discrimination against same-sex couples who wish to have their marriages recognized and licensed under state law.Des Moines Register: "Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman," April 4, 2009 , accessed March 13, 2011 Iowa marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples for the first time on April 27, 2009.365Gay.com: "Iowa gay marriages delayed," April 7, 2009 , accessed June 26, 2011

In response to the decision, several attempts to amend the state Constitution, either by presenting a ballot initiative before the voters or calling a state constitutional convention, to ban same-sex marriage failed.Iowa Independent: Jason Hancock, "Gronstal: No gay marriage vote in 2010," December 31, 2009 , accessed June 26, 2011

Three of the Iowa Supreme Court justices who participated in Varnum were removed from office as the result of judicial retention elections in November 2010,Des Moines Register: "Iowans Dismiss Three Justices," November 3, 2010 , accessed June 26, 2011 following a campaign by groups opposed to same-sex marriage.NPR: "Gay Marriage Foes Back Push To Oust Iowa Justices," October 25, 2010, accessed June 26, 2011 However, in November 2012, a fourth member of the Iowa Supreme Court that participated in Varnum was retained after vigorous campaigning by groups opposed to same-sex marriage and groups supporting same-sex marriage and judicial independence.Des Moines Register: "Voters retain Justice David Wiggins," November 7, 2012, accessed November 13, 2012.

Methodist church within Iowa In February 2022, it was reported that effective since January 1, 2022 that the United Methodist Church within Iowa itself does permit recognition and practice of same-sex marriage.

Adoption and parenting Joint adoption by married same-sex couples has been legal since a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2008.365Gay.com: "Iowa Supreme Court strikes down gay marriage ban," April 3, 2009 , accessed June 26, 2011 Iowa law allows individuals and married couples, regardless of sexual orientation, to adopt.Human Resources Campaign: Iowa Adoption Law , accessed June 26, 2011

On December 12, 2012, ruling in Buntemeyer v. Iowa DPH, a state court ordered the Iowa Department of Public Health to list the names of two women, a married lesbian couple, on the death certificate of their stillborn son.Iowa District Court for Polk County, Buntemeyer v. Iowa DPH, December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2012 The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments that same day in the department's appeal of a decision in Gartner v. Newton that ordered it to enter the names of two women as parents on a birth certificate. On May 3, 2013, the court unanimously affirmed the lower court's ruling in Gartner and said that "By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple's child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth".

Lesbian couples have access to in vitro fertilization and fertility treatments. State law recognizes the non-genetic, non-gestational mother as a legal parent to a child born via donor insemination, but only if the parents are married. Although Iowa does not possess any defined surrogacy laws, courts are generally favorable to couples, different-sex or same-sex, who use the gestational or traditional surrogacy process.

Discrimination protections

Since 2007, Iowa has outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations.Human Resources Campaign: Iowa Non-Discrimination Law , accessed June 26, 2011 The state's largest city, Des Moines, has had a non-discrimination ordinance of its own since 1991.

In February 2025, under enacted Iowa legislation - gender identity was formally removed from anti-discrimination laws and goes into effect from July 1. Iowa became the first US state to formally remove 'gender identity' from any civil rights and anti-discrimination legislation. Iowa also became the first state in the Nation to take any protected group away from Civil Rights protections.

Hate crime law Iowa's hate crime law provides penalty enhancements for crimes committed on the basis of the victim's sexual orientation, but not gender identity.Human Resources Campaign: Iowa Hate Crimes Law , accessed June 26, 2011

On March 8, 2016, the Iowa Senate approved a bill, in a 27–21 vote, that would have added gender identity to the law. However, the bill subsequently died without a vote in the Republican-controlled House.

Although Iowa's hate crime law does not cover gender identity, U.S. federal law has covered this category since the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law in October 2009.

Transgender rights As of July 1, 2025, transgender people in Iowa may not alter their legal gender, such as on government IDs or documents, or be legally recognized differently from their assigned sex. This was enacted by Senate File 418 during the 2025 Iowa Legislative Session. The bill stripped gender transition language (added in 2007) from the Iowa Code and implements an unchangeable, binary legal definition of sex, determined at birth, based on the gametes expected to be produced later in life.

In March 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court declared that sex reassignment surgery must be covered under the state's Medicaid program. However, a month later, the Iowa General Assembly quickly passed a bill in the final hours of the legislative session, banning state funding for sex reassignment surgeries, which reversed the Supreme Court ruling. Days later, the bill was signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds. In November 2021, a Polk County District Court judge ruled that this ban was unconstitutional. In June 2025, Governor Reynolds signed another law banning Medicaid coverage for transgender surgeries and hormone treatments. The ban went into effect on July 1, 2025.

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