Iowa made national news in February when Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that struck gender identity from the state’s civil rights law, making Iowa the first state to remove civil rights from a previously protected class. So much for the heady days of 2023, when Caitlin Clark was putting Iowa in the headlines for something positive.
That came a day after a public hearing during which the most impassioned and reasonable voice in the room was that of a college student from Iowa State University. Jemma Bullock, executive director of the Iowa Queer Student Alliance, shared figures that ought to have at least given legislators pause. After stating that they were there “as a young person who desperately wants to see the state that I love live up to its promise to be a place where every person has the inalienable right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness,” Mx. Bullock, who uses the gender-neutral honorific and they/them pronouns, read off statistics that are sobering.
Citing Iowa Workforce Development data on Iowa College Student Retention, they noted the number of students who plan to leave the state after graduation rose from 26.7 percent in 2017 to 38 percent in 2024. The percentage of students planning to stay decreased in that time period from 46 to 40.8.
That report is eye-opening. The urge to leave, while strongest among students who identify as transgender (a category that one assumes will be missing from future reports because the Legislature hopes to erase this population even before it decides to leave), cuts across all demographics. Yes, those white men and women so coveted by our leaders also plan to depart as soon as possible.
It’s no surprise. Young Iowans are the most diverse, and the most likely to have a diverse social network. Who wants to live in a place where they or their friends are told they are not wanted?
That leaves Iowa with a pending workforce shortage, particularly troubling in this practice, because these are the young people being trained to take the advanced jobs that could ensure the state’s continued growth.
One would think the state’s large employers would be on the front lines opposing this and other bills, that they would be fighting for public libraries – the most popular institutions in any town – and for the diversity efforts that make Iowa a richer place.
But instead, crickets. The people who spoke at that hearing, and those who are writing letters to the editor, attending protests, and making their voices heard, are the people with the most to lose and their allies.
It is clear those voices are easy for legislators to ignore. Perhaps they would listen to business leaders, those whose best interests officials claim to have in mind when pushing Iowa backward and stifling local control. Maybe this is happening behind the scenes, but it would be more powerful were it to happen in public, where those putting their lives on the line could feel supported.
I urge Iowa businesses to show their values – the very values they were quick to trumpet just four years ago – and make their voices heard. If that isn’t motivation enough, think about the near future when you will be unable to fill open positions because talented young people like Mx. Bullock have chosen to depart for someplace more welcoming.
John Kenyon is executive director of Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature.
