(Radio Iowa) -Republicans on a House subcommittee have advanced Governor Kim Reynolds’ bill that would put definitions of man and woman and mother and father in Iowa law and require changes in how the state issues driver’s licenses to transgender residents. Molly Severn is the governor’s legislative liaison.

“Just like the governor and legislature did with girls’ sports, this proposal protects women’s spaces and rights afforded them by Iowa law and the Constitution,” Severn says. Denise Bubeck of The Family Leader’s church ambassador network says Reynolds is standing up for women by clearly defining the term.  “This bill will help us move in the right direction because without it, we are losing single sex spaces and resources,” she said, “including locker rooms, athletics and even prisons and domestic violence shelters.”

Clara Reynen, a graduate student at the University of Iowa, testified against the bill.  “This bill is completely unconstitutional and worse than that it’s unAmerican,” Reynen said. “…My transgender friends and family deserve to live in peace..” The bill requires Iowa driver’s licenses and newly-issued birth certificates to list a transgender resident’s gender at birth as well as their gender after sex-change surgery. Stefanie Munsterman, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission, says the bill sends the wrong signal to the L-G-B-T-Q community.

“I have business leaders across the state of Iowa telling me they are having an exceedingly hard time finding employees to work,” Munsterman said. “People are leaving the state. People are afraid to come here, so we are losing our competitive advantage.” A huge crowd of opponents of the bill rallied and chanted outside the committee room during the half hour hearing.

The bill is now eligible for a vote in a House committee.