Davenport West High School senior Clementine Springsteen had planned to quietly accept her Iowa Governor's Scholar certificate from Gov. Kim Reynolds on Sunday.
But she couldn't stay quiet.
Instead, Springsteen, who is a transgender woman, walked across the stage wearing a pink, white, and light blue tie to represent the transgender flag and pins that read "Trans Rights Are Human Rights" and "She Her" as she reached out to shake the hand of the governor and also Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg. Then, as Iowa's two top officials turned away, Springsteen said loudly, "Trans rights are human rights." An Iowa Events Center video captured the whole thing.
While Springsteen's message was meant for Reynolds, by Monday night it had been heard by tens of thousands of people as clips of her statement and the protests of Newton High School seniors Miran Pettigrew and Leo Friedman made the rounds on Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.
The protest comes as Iowa has passed a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and other legislation that advocates say is some of the most restrictive in the nation targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition, lawmakers passed an education bill that, once signed into law, will make it easier to ban books and curb LGBTQ+ instruction in public schools. #queer_up_education