AMES, Iowa — Sondra Wilson claims that the state denied her Medicaid coverage for her gender reassignment surgery.
Wilson doesn’t have a law degree, but is representing herself in this case. She said she reached out to about 50 different law firms across the state and couldn’t afford any of the quotes she was given.
Hearing the Iowa Supreme Court’s 2019 ruling that gender-affirming surgeries had to be covered by Medicaid meant the world to Wilson.
“I was so relieved,” Wilson said.
Just months after the ruling, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law to deny coverage for those types of surgeries.
“You don’t expect all these setbacks,” Wilson said. “I didn’t see being able to afford surgery, without government help.”
Two years later, in 2021, a district judge ordered the state to stop enforcing the law. The state then appealed the ruling, forcing the Iowa Supreme Court to weigh in, again.
Wilson claims that between 2019 and 2023, she was denied coverage for her gender reassignment surgery.
“When you harm trans people, you’re not just hurting their rights, you’re knowingly and willingly causing this emotional pain and suffering,” Wilson said.
In her lawsuit, against the state and Kim Reynolds for Iowa, Wilson alleges that this caused her harm.
“I was so exhausted from silently suffering and not being able to afford surgery and being stuck in the middle,” Wilson said.
Although Wilson did end up getting her gender-affirming surgery last year, she’s still asking for monetary damages from the state in her lawsuit.
“The state of Iowa should have liability,” Wilson said. “You knowingly violated a class of vulnerable persons’ rights, an entire group of people.”
Gov. Reynolds’ office did not return calls for comment about the lawsuit.
The State of Iowa filed a motion to dismiss the case. A hearing to determine the outcome of that motion is scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Polk County Courthouse.
Wilson told Local 5 News that she plans on running for governor in 2026 to advocate for LGBTQ rights.
