Friday afternoon, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a historic bill ending 18 years of civil rights protects for transgender and nonbinary Iowans.

Senate File 418 removes gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which shields Iowans from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and more. The law takes effect July 1.

Here’s the public statement Reynolds released after signing the bill.

“Today, I am signing into law a bill that safeguards the rights of women and girls.

“It is common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it is necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls.

“It is why we have men and women’s bathrooms, but not men and women’s conference rooms; girls’ and boys’ sports, but not girls’ math and boys’ math; separate men and women’s prisons, but not different laws for men and women. It is about the biological differences, and that is all.

“It is also why Iowa has enacted laws protecting girls’ sports for girls and women’s private spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.

“But unfortunately, these commonsense protections were at risk because, before I signed this bill, the Civil Rights Code blurred the biological line between the sexes. It has also forced Iowa taxpayers to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.

“That is unacceptable to me, and it is unacceptable to most Iowans.

“I know this is a sensitive issue for some, many of whom have heard misinformation about what this bill does. The truth is that it simply brings Iowa in line with the federal Civil Rights Code, as well as most states.

“We all agree that every Iowan, without exception, deserves respect and dignity. We are all children of God, and no law changes that.

“What this bill does accomplish is to strengthen protections for women and girls, and I believe that is the right thing to do.”