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Iowa lawmakers will be honored for helping to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians as well as mandating that the state's school districts establish anti-bullying policies.

The awards will be presented Friday during Iowa's Matthew Shepard Scholarship Awards Dinner at this Friday at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.

"I am extremely honored to have been a part of this legislation being passed," said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, who served as floor manager of the anti-discrimination measure (SF 427) during House debate this session. "It has been such a good feeling to work on this and to watch all the individuals who fought for its passage truly celebrate each step in the process. I did work hard and I did my part, but I was just doing my job."

Although Wessel-Kroeschell doesn't have a personal story behind her work on the bill, she has spent a number of years studying the issue and working for its passage.

"This is a measure which has been around for a number of years," she said. "It passed the Iowa House in the 1980s and then passed the Iowa Senate in the 1990s. This year marked the first time it gained approval from both houses and made its way to the governor's desk."

During the 1990s fight for the bill, Wessel-Kroeschell was a clerk for former state legislator Ralph Rosenberg. As proof that all things come full circle, Rosenberg will be enforcing the legislative changes as director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

Despite 18 states -- including Iowa neighbors Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin -- having similar laws and Democratic majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, even this session the bill did not come without compromise. In the final days, Minority Leader Chris Rants of Sioux City put forth an amendment, which limited the scope of "gender identity" and inserted a provision to prevent any claims against Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act.

Speaking last week on Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press," former legislator Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, continued to denounce the new law despite the addition of the amendments. He contends the measure -- which he dubs as "legislative and cultural malpractice" -- gives gays and lesbians special rights.

"All the historians are in agreement that when a culture finally adopts acceptance of this behavior," he told Associated Press senior political writer Mike Glover in an exchange on Iowa Press, "it's one step away from the end of that culture."

"This isn't about special rights," Wessel-Kroeschell said Wednesday. "It is about -- and has always been about -- ending discrimination and providing equality for everyone."

Joining Wessel-Kroeschell at the awards dinner will be Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, Speaker of the House Pat Murphy of Dubuque and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines. They are all mentioned in the event program along with Senate President Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Mike Connolly of Dubuque, Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, and Rep. Roger Wendt, D-Sioux City.

Iowa's Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program also will award 18 scholarships to openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender high school students at the dinner. Recent graduates from high schools in Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Johnston and Cedar Falls will receive full scholarships (worth roughly $30,000 each), and 14 others will receive smaller awards.

The scholarships are named in memory of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was kidnapped, beaten and left to die in freezing temperatures in 1998 because he was gay. The program honors Iowa high school students who work to promote tolerance and non-discrimination in their schools and communities. Many of the scholarship recipients are teens who worked for both the anti-bullying and anti-discrimination legislation that passed this session.

In addition to awarding the scholarships and honoring the lawmakers, the program includes recognition of the best high school Gay-Straight Alliance and best college LGBT group in Iowa. Entertainment will be provided by the Des Moines Gay Men's Chorus under the direction of Rebecca Gruber.