catrocketship.bsky.social
they/them
Sticker gremlin, mural conjurer, and skeleton doodler. Art fueled by bugs, queerness, and the pure chaos of existence. i used to work in comms for a political org so maybe we met there
https://linktr.ee/catrocketship for more art
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Oh, I almost forgot. This was the banger that kicked off my note-taking.
Sen. Blake had been going for a while and started in on Iowa's past.
CHAIR: "Sen Blake, this is the third time I've had to stop you. Please refrain from those type of comments."
BLAKE: "About history?"
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"But what about MY rights...to hate you?!"
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And they have to lie to get it passed.
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The Iowa House has voted.
The gallery erupts in boos and the House adjourns.
Iowa lawmakers have voted to remove gender identity from civil rights code. The bill heads for the governor's desk.
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I hope Steve Holt has a hangnail every day for the rest of his life. I hope he finds a hair in every meal he eats. I hope he has nightmares every night. I hope he always feels like he has to fart but nothing comes out. I hope he always smells just a little bad and no one wants to sit near him.
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Oh wait he cited Ainsley Erzen as an Iowan athlete who was wronged by trans people, however, nothing happened to Ainsley Erzan.
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"This is also an important free speech issue" because we should "allow people to express their views without fear of penalty."
Honestly I hate Steven Holt and have considered him a personal nemesis for years and I think I' done quoting his trash mouth
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Holt once again claims that trans women are injuring other athletes.
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Once again, Holt emphasizes that the reason that they're seeking to remove gender identity as a protected class is because people keep winning lawsuits over the trans bathroom bills and ban on surgery for trans minors.
He's also mad that Medicaid pays for gender affirming care.
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Ope she found the Pella story. The man was wearing trans tape. Which, if you've ever used trans tape, you know. He was more covered than any string bikini lol
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Then a story about a trans man at Pella city pools. Again, no one was harmed.
A story from Johnson County, that a trans woman has filed a lawsuit over the bathroom law. Yeah, that's what happens when you pass a dumb law.
Dani is googling and can't find any evidence of these stories in the news.
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Cities a story of a woman attending DMACC who shared a locker room with a trans woman. She was not harmed. She was transphobic.
"She was a female erased" by a transgender woman. "And that's my definition of toxic masculinity."
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He finally reponds to Rep. Meyer's question. Once again claims that Iowa spends millions of gender confirmation surgery, "injury of female athletes", and "all the locker room problems".
Once again postures that Iowa has to remove gender identity as a protected class to protect women.
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Rep. Holt brings in the Senate File which has just passed to vote on.
Holt once again says he's here for women's rights. He says this is about "the elevating of feelings to a protected class."
He says "we've known for a while that Democrats cannot define women."
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The gallery in the House has erupted in applause for Rep. Wichtendahl.
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"I know that you are angry. I know that you are hurting....The leadership in this body could have spend the time to improve your lives. They did not."
"Those think tanks will ask you again and again and again to remove rights from your fellow Iowans until none remain. Draw a line in the sand."
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She's crying and I'm crying.
"The purpose of this bill is to force us back into the closet. The authors of these bills wish us every harm."
"As it says in the rotunda: 'Where law ends, tyranny begins.'"
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Sen. Amy Wichtendahl, Iowa's first and only openly trans lawmaker: "I transitioned to save my life." She transitioned to spend more time with her son, her father, to have important conversations with her mom.
The same week she publicly transitioned, she received notice of eviction.
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Rep. Amy Wichtendahl, Iowa's first and only openly trans lawmaker, is up in the House. She recalls a Sunday School lesson on gift giving and on inappropriate gifts, accompanied by an illustration of a boy holding up a dress and looking embarrassed and thinking, "Oh that's me but in reverse."
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Where the FUCK is Sen. Celsi.
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In the Senate, the gallery has begun yelling. The Chair asks troopers to remove the audience in the gallery. Someone yells, "Come and get me, asshole!"
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The Iowa House is still hearing comments. I'm not sure if they'll cut off at any point.
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The people in power are truly in the minority.
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The Iowa Senate has voted to strip civil rights protections from trans Iowans—making Iowa the first state in the nation to do so. A dark, shameful day. However, Iowa Statehouse security counted more than 2500 people at the statehouse today. The fact is, everyday Iowans love and support trans people.
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senate about to vote. my heart is pounding
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I am feeling for all the trans kids, grandkids, nephews and nieces being outed by well-meaning Senators and Representatives.
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Sen. Dotzler asks Schultz why they want to replace "gender identity" with "gender theory"
Sen. Dotzler is...trying his best as he tells a story about a trans childhood friend. He lands it: "When we talk about 'liberty & justice for all' somehow you don't think transgender people are art of 'all'".
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Senate Republicans have unanimously voted to cut off debate on SF 418 at 3:30 p.m.
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He's going hard on Sen. Schultz and I love him for this. Keeps calling him out. "I don't know if you're paying attention, Senator Schultz." "If you'd care to learn more, Sen. Schultz..."
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Wahls comes back with stories from the Williams Institute at UCLA, which studies LGBTQ issues. “70% of transgender employees report experiencing discrimination at work.” “Transgender employees are twice as likely to experience being fired or not hired based on their identity than LGB people.”
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Wahls brings up the point that if the goal here is truly to "protect women and children" as Schultz and Holt keep saying is the underlying reason, why are they going after housing? Why credit? Why employment?
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Sen. Wahls: “Would it surprise you to learn that the vast majority of transgender people report having experienced discrimination at work based on their gender identity?”
Sen. Schultz, who introduced the bill in the Senate: “I don’t know. I’ve never thought of it.”
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Sen. Weiner starts out strong: “The Iowa civil rights bill isn’t broken. It’s just keeping otherwise qualified people from being discriminated against. And that’s it.”
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Rep. Meyer asks Holt if he believes trans Iowans don’t need a protected class because they’re covered by the 14th Amendment.
Holt refuses to answer.
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I'm very upset, by the way, that Rep. Srinivas is questioning Holt at the same time as Sen. Bennett questions Sen Schultz on his companion bill. I can only parse so much.
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Later, Holt asks about the percentage of intersex children: “It’s almost nothing, isn’t it?”
Srinivas: “It could be any child, that’s why we’d have to test everyone.”
Holt: “I don’t think that’s true.”
Srinivas: “Well, I’m glad you’re questioning my medical expertise.”
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She shares that she spoke with someone today who learned their child was intersex at 14 months.
She explains we don’t do genetic screenings at birth that would determine this.
She asks if Holt believes every newborn should be screened.
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Rep. Srinivas asks to question Rep. Holt about his bill stripping civil rights from trans Iowans, based on her experience as a physician.
She asks if the six-month timeline in the bill is enough to determine if a child is intersex.
Holt says yes.