In February, I took a mental health day to bring Kayde Martin, a student at the high school where I teach in eastern Iowa, to the state capitol in Des Moines so that we could both fight for his rights. We woke up early and drove two hours to get there in time. He is a proud trans man, and the day of our trip was his eighteenth birthday. He was born in 2007, the year that Iowa voted to add gender identity to its Civil Rights Act. The day after his birthday, after hearing our testimonies and many others, lawmakers officially took his rights away by eliminating those very same protections.
He spoke bravely, with passion and courage, to a room of people that either wanted to support him, or to treat him as less of a human. He looked them all in their eyes and spoke his truth. A few short hours later, the bill passed, and the governor signed it into law the next day.
Words can’t describe the heartbreak. Kayde has tried to process how all of this hate is possible. But sadly, there is no way to truly process it. There is only going forward. There is only keep fighting.
As I said in my own testimony, I became a teacher because I believe helping young people succeed to the best of their abilities is one of the most important contributions I can make. I am also the faculty sponsor for our school’s Gay-Straight Alliance Club. “Students come into [the] classroom and into my club from different backgrounds, abilities, and identities,” I told the lawmakers. “They want the same thing: to be treated with respect and dignity, in a safe place, where they can learn, grow, and thrive.”
With its vote, Iowa became the first state to remove civil rights protections from an entire group of people. Those that supported this bill should know this decision will have drastic, negative consequences. Iowa just made it legal to discriminate.
Here is Kayde’s full testimony:
Photo provided
Kayde Martin, a trans man and high school senior in eastern Iowa, gave testimony to lawmakers at the Iowa State Capitol.
Good morning. My name is Kayde Martin, and today, I speak not just for myself but for many other transgender youths in Iowa. I was born on February 27, 2007. Today is my eighteenth birthday. I stand before you fighting for the same basic civil rights that every Iowan deserves by humanely asking you to vote against this bill. It deeply troubles me after eighteen years of living here with my family, attending school, and working, that this is the focus of our state. I plan on attending the University of Northern Iowa in the fall, and I hope to live independently without fear of discrimination simply because of who I am. I have heard some people talk about women’s rights. With that, I ask you all, why do women’s rights only seem to be defended when it [is used against] the transgender community? Where’s the same outcry when it comes to women’s choices and their own bodily autonomy?
I was raised with Christian beliefs. I believe that faith teaches us all to respect and love all people, regardless of identity as a whole. A good Christian knows that only the Lord is one to judge; nobody knows the Heavenly Father’s plan. I believe our experiences in life choose who we are as people. Is it not a sin to judge? As it is written in Romans 2:1, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” It is those who do not love thy neighbor that receive judgment from the Lord, as all sins are equal and can be forgiven.
I want to be able to be the person I was meant to be, and that’s the person that God knows me to be. Please don’t take my rights away simply because you disagree with who I am. Being trans is not a choice; it is a reality that you come to when you learn to understand yourself and love yourself. And I hope that those who refuse to try to understand, that we can agree to disagree like civil people instead of targeting each other from whatever background we may come from, and avoid becoming more divided as a state. Thank you for your time today.
Beautiful Kayde and all of my other trans students should not have to go through this. They should not have to fight to be treated like every other human in our nation. I have been blessed to watch Kayde grow into his true, authentic self over these last four years of high school. Going forward, I will fight every day by his side.