DES MOINES, IOWA (February 20, 2025) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has announced an official status report with the court that emphasizes the States’ commitment to defending Section 504 accommodations for Americans with disabilities.
The update follows a seventeen-state lawsuit from September 2024, challenging the Biden-Harris transgender mandate, which illegally attempted to include “gender dysphoria” under Section 504. The Section 504 law protects school accommodations for kids with disabilities such as ADHD or diabetes. When Congress originally passed Section 504, the law excluded “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders.” The status update emphasizes how the States are working to protect Section 504 and strikes down a Biden-Harris transgender mandate that threatened school accommodations for kids with disabilities.
“I always have and always will protect Section 504 accommodations for Iowans who need them,” said AG Bird. “As a mom, I know that every child learns differently and should have the tools for success, but Biden failed Iowa kids. That is why when Biden and Harris forced transgender ideologies into schools at the expense of kids with disabilities, I fought back. I am suing to make certain kids, and Americans with disabilities, have the support they need to succeed.”
With this mandate, it was not just schools that were put at risk. All recipients of federal funding would be forced to allow the use of bathrooms, pronouns, and dress codes to be based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex. In other words, the federal government could use the Rehabilitation Act to remove funding for disability programs, Medicaid, or public schools if they do not allow men in women’s restrooms. That is unconstitutional, and Iowa, along with sixteen other states, is pushing back.
The lawsuit is suspended due to the change in Administration. President Trump’s Administration is reviewing the rule.
Iowa joined the Texas-led status report, along with Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.
Read the joint status report here.
