Iowa churches must allow people to use the bathroom according to their gender identity and cannot make statements that could make gay or transgender people feel unwelcome according to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC).
A brochure, titled “A Public Accommodations Provider’s Guide to Iowa Law,” published by ICRC states that it is illegal for public spaces to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity due to the latest update made to the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
In the section titled, "Does this Law Apply to Churches?" the answer is “Sometimes.”
“Iowa law provides that these protections do not apply to religious institutions with respect to any religion-based qualifications when such qualifications are related to a bona fide religious purpose,” the brochure reads. “Where qualifications are not related to a bona fide religious purpose, churches are still subject to the law’s provisions. (e.g. a child care facility operated at a church or a church service open to the public),” the brochure reads.
Fort Des Moines Church of Christ filed a federal lawsuit, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, arguing that not granting exemption to churches, essentially censoring biblical teaching, violates the First Amendment.
“ADF attorneys representing Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Des Moines argue in the lawsuit that all events held at a church on its property have a bona fide religious purpose, and that the commission has no authority to violate the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of religion and speech,” ADF said in a statement.
