Culver signs bill for civil right for gays & lesbians

Gay and lesbians now have civil rights protections in Iowa.

Gov. Chet Culver this morning signed a bill that makes it illegal to discriminate in employment, public accommodation, credit, housing or education based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Iowa is now one of 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, to have such protection for gay and lesbians.

Today “we send a message that Iowa is a welcoming place that values each of its citizens whether it’s in the neighborhood or the workplace,” Culver said. “We send a message that intolerance and discrimination have no place in our state.”

Specifically, the law gives the state’s civil rights commission the ability to investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.