Hide Transcript Show Transcript

NEW AT 10:00, A GROUP OF LGBTQ TEENAGERS SAYS THEY WERE THROWN OUT OF THE STATE CAPITOL TODAY. A VIEWER SENT US THIS VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT. IOWA SAFE SCHOOLS SAYS THE KID WERE THERE FOR STUDENT DAY AT THE CAPITOL. ADVOCACY GROUP, ONE IOWA, SAYS THE KIDS WERE USING RESTROOMS THAT MATCH THEIR GENDER IDENTITY. THE IOWA STATE PATROL TELLS KCCI IT RECEIVED REPORTS OF SEVERAL ADULT AND MINOR FEMALES IN A MALE RESTROO THE PATROL SAYS CAPITOL SECURITY TRIED THREE TIMES TO GET THE FEMALES TO USE A GENDER-NEUTRAL RESTROOM. THE PATROL SAYS THE GROUP REFUSED, AND WAS ESCORTED OUT OF THE CAPITOL WITHOUT INCIDE

Advertisement One Iowa: LGBTQ+ youth ejected from Capitol for using bathroom of their gender identity Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A group of LGBTQ+ was removed from the Iowa Capitol building after using the restrooms that matched their gender identity, according to LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Iowa. In a statement One Iowa Executive Director Courtney Reyes said the youth who were using the restrooms Thursday afternoon were taken out by Iowa State Patrol troopers. "Iowa law states that transgender Iowans have the right to access restrooms that match their gender identity," Reyes said. "For these troopers to violate these children’s rights is unconscionable. To double down and eject them from the Capitol for asserting their rights under the law is unimaginable. We call on the Iowa State Patrol to issue an apology to these students and commit to training to better inform them of the protections afforded to LGBTQ Iowans so that this never happens again. To the youth whose rights were violated today - we see you and we will not stop fighting for you to exist in spaces as your authentic self."Sgt. Alex Dinkla, with the Iowa State Patrol, released a statement that said the Iowa State Patrol and Capitol security received reports of multiple people in the men's restroom. "The concerned parties expressed concern because the occupants included both adult and minor females," Dinkla said. "On three separate occasions, Capitol security requested the adult and minor females discontinue the use of the male restroom and directed them to the gender-neutral restrooms located in the Capitol should they so desire. The group refused to comply with the requests and were escorted from the Capitol by members of the Iowa State Patrol without incident or arrest."