Over the last five years, legislators across the country have escalated their attacks on trans youth and adults.

Iowa, however, now holds the dubious distinction of becoming the first statehouse to repeal civil rights protections for trans people. The bill legislators passed on Thursday explicitly removes civil rights protections that had been enshrined in state law. Once the pro-discrimination bill is signed by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, trans people in Iowa will no longer be considered a protected category under state law.

The bill’s supporters were clear: They want to be able to discriminate against trans people — and don’t want any barriers like pesky civil rights protections in the way.

“If signed, Iowa will become the first state in American history to remove a protected class from its Civil Rights Act,” wrote Erin Reed, a journalist and trans rights advocate, “setting a dangerous precedent for broader rollbacks of anti-discrimination protections.”

Introduced last week, the new legislation was pushed through at breakneck speed. The Republican-led Iowa Legislature voted 60 to 36 in the House and 33 to 15 in the Senate to pass the bill, which now heads to Reynolds’s desk for signing. Reynolds has........

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