Matt McCoy, Des Moines

Letter to the Editor

A hate crime imposes tougher penalties on criminals who specifically target their victims because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability. However, under Iowa’s Hate Crimes Statute, there would be no tougher penalty if a transgender person were assaulted specifically because of their gender identity. That’s why this year, I led the effort in the Iowa Senate to add language to Iowa’s Hate Crime Statute to include members of the transgender community.

According to recent studies conducted by the Transgender Law Center, transgender people are four times more likely to live in extreme poverty. Nearly 80 percent reported experiencing harassment at school when they were young. Even more alarming is that 72 percent of the victims of hate violence in 2013 were transgender women, according to a study conducted in collaboration with numerous equality organizations.

On March 8, I floor managed a bill that would have added four words to Iowa’s Hate Crimes Statute, extending protections to transgender people. When it came to a vote, a single Republican senator (Sen. Charles Schneider) joined all 26 Democrats to pass the bill. It was a victory left unfinished, as the bill would not even get a vote on the House floor for the rest of the legislative session.

This should not be a partisan issue. Iowa provides tougher penalties for bias-motivated crimes, but left transgender people unprotected. We, as citizens of this state and representatives of this democracy, need to stand up for these marginalized members of our society.

My hope is that in the next General Assembly, Republican lawmakers will take a serious look at this important issue and provide equal protection to all Iowans.

— State Sen. Matt McCoy, Des Moines