An Iowa legislator’s Tweet has stirred up controversy statewide, particularly in this region’s 6th Senate District. Republican Representative from Fairfield, Jeff Shipley, Tweeted Wednesday night in reference to an email from Iowa Safe Schools in a response to what Shipley says was research into de-transitioning of transgender individuals. He says information of that nature should be presented to patients in an effort to stem suicides in this high-risk category.
Shipley also says the conversation was partially spurred by the outcry against popular children’s author J.K. Rowling, who says she has no bias against LGBTQ individuals. But she says a man who has undergone gender reassignment cannot be defined as a woman. For Shipley, as a legislator, that definition is very important.
He says a bill he has been working on has the goal of eliminating transgender suicide, but determining what these words mean is key to that bill. When Shipley received the response from Iowa Safe Schools that they were not aware of anyone that had de-transitioned, he responded on Twitter by writing, “The @iowasafeschools lobbyist lied to me about detransition. These people need to stay far away from our children.” When the Tweet was shared by 6th Senate District Democratic candidate, C.J. Petersen of Templeton, Shipley responded with another Tweet saying, “my goodness, this man is a walking public health crisis.” Mr. Petersen says he was disheartened by the backlash.
A former member of the Republican Party, Petersen points to this mindset as one of the major reasons he is now running on a Democratic ticket.
Shipley told Carroll Broadcasting the word threat was used in describing Petersen because he believes there is too much misinformation about gender being presented to the children that is creating “substantial disruptions to their mental and emotional health.” Petersen responded, he is a Christian and does not believe God makes any mistakes; but he would rather just move past these types of conversations.
Carroll County Democratic Party Chair, Peter Leo, says he was shocked when he saw this exchange with Petersen, who is a friend. Leo sent out a press release, saying Shipley is, “one of the dumbest people in the House of Representatives, and that was before he revealed himself to be a COVID-19 truther on the capitol steps last week. But his attack on C.J. Petersen isn’t just dumb, it’s malicious, disgusting and homophobic.”
Petersen is of the opinion that this is just another case of muddying the waters and avoidance of the real issues Iowan’s are facing, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He wants to change the focus. He points to the lack of healthcare coverage for Iowans, what he calls the Managed Care Organization (MCO) “nightmare,” the need for mental health and addiction care and figuring out how to fund public education with a budget shortfall. Petersen says no matter your party preference, he is there to have a conversation and wants to bypass seeing people through the lens of their party and any assumptions that may go along with it; instead having conversations as Iowans and as people. Shipley’s final word on this subject is that he does not want to regulate anyone’s sexual activity and he wishes every single person happiness, peace and prosperity. However, he says we need to have these important discussions. We need to be able to look each other in the eyes at the same table and have a mature conversation.
