Civil rights codes aim to protect individuals from discrimination based on various characteristics. Gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither, which may or may not correspond to their sex assigned at birth. Iowa Republicans are pushing to remove gender identity from the state's civil rights act. - Iowa Republicans are supporting a bill that would remove gender identity from the state's civil rights code. - The bill, if passed, would eliminate existing nondiscrimination protections for transgender individuals in Iowa. - Protests erupted at the Iowa State Capitol, resulting in arrests as lawmakers advanced the bill. - The Iowa Civil Rights Act has included protections based on gender identity for nearly two decades.