Iowa businesses back trans community after rights rollback
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The front of The Slowdown Coffee Co. Photo: Courtesy of Slowdown
Small and medium-size businesses are doubling down on their support of transgender Iowans and inclusivity efforts as larger companies back away or remain silent.
Why it matters: After Iowa became the first state to revoke nondiscrimination protections for transgender people, major companies that once lobbied against those efforts stayed silent amid a larger anti-DEI culture pushed by the Trump administration.
State of play: As Iowa lawmakers worked to remove gender identity from the state's Civil Rights Act last month, local businesses reached out to LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Iowa asking how they could support trans Iowans, says spokesperson Maddie Rocha Smith.
- The organization created a list of inclusive businesses that say they're standing with transgender Iowans.
- 1,075 businesses from across the state signed on, ranging from chiropractic offices to coffee shops.
- "It's not just Des Moines, which we're really happy about," Rocha Smith says. "Le Mars, Hiawatha, Boone, Keosauqua — these are small cities in our state that are saying there's a space for queer Iowans here."
Zoom in: The Slow Down Coffee Co. is one of the businesses on the list.
- Owners Drew and Kara Kelso say they weren't worried about losing customers by openly displaying their support and instead feel like they've gained customers.
- As small business owners, they get to be more in tune with their community, Drew says. Small businesses are more nimble and less likely to face political opposition, helping them "show support more authentically," Forbes reports.
- "Our business lesson we've had to learn is that not everybody likes us and we're not for everybody, but that's OK, because we just want — broadly — everyone to feel welcome," Kara says.
Friction point: Principal Financial Group, a major Des Moines employer that previously opposed efforts to revoke nondiscrimination protections, has been silent, the Register reports.
- Other business groups like the Iowa Chamber Alliance, the Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Iowa Business Council also remained silent, despite opposing those efforts in the past.
The other side: Companies are on a tightrope with risks on both sides — stick with DEI and potentially face a Trump Department of Justice investigation, or abandon it and face the potential for lawsuits from employees and job applicants.
- Either way, companies run the risk of angering customers and staff.
What they're saying: "The silence is what's really speaking volumes at this point," Rocha Smith says.