Within the first weeks of 2024 and the current Iowa legislative session, dozens of bills were introduced posing threats to the safety, healthcare access and legal recognition of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming children and adults.
As the fight against these bills continues to rage inside the State Capitol, the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines is making space to showcase the art, experiences and joys of these threatened Iowans at their fourth Central Iowa Trans Lives Festival — the third in a row since their 2020-’21 COVID hiatus — on Saturday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
First Unitarian has been an LGBTQ+ Welcoming Congregation since 1992. Birch Spick, Faith Formation and Congregational Life Coordinator at First Unitarian, described the festival as a place for trans performers to showcase their talents, a marketplace for trans artists and a resource fair. But it’s also more than that.
“This is a way we put our values into action in the world,” they said. “[This is how we] put in effort to center and uplift trans and nonbinary people in our congregation and highlight their lives and liveliness when we usually hear more about how their rights are being infringed upon.”
One Iowa Action, a grassroots activist organization supporting and protecting LGBTQ+ Iowans, has been tracking 40 bills introduced in the 2024 Iowa legislative session that they consider to be dangerous to LGBTQ Iowans. On Feb. 16, One Iowa Action announced that 33 of these bills had died during the first funnel, a deadline by which a bill must have approval from a full committee to continue through the legislative process.
However, this means seven bills still pose threats to trans and queer Iowans. These include bills that impact trans healthcare access, trans students’ freedom and safety in schools, and trans identification on official state documents.
When facing such stark antipathy from lawmakers, organizers of the Central Iowa Trans Lives Festival see celebration as a necessity.
“As a cis person, I don’t experience as much of a threat, which gives me a greater capacity to live life [unimpeded],” said Gianfranco Berardi, a founding organizer of the 2019 festival. “I want to do what I can to help. This is amplifying the people who need a break when challenges out there are so relentless. To be able to focus on things that bring joy is a great focal point.”
Sarah Chang, co-leader of First Unitarian’s Queer and Transgender Action Group, agreed.
“I do what I can [about oppressive legislation] but sometimes, when you’ve done all you can, then what else can you do?” Chang asked. “Something that I can do is help create this safe space for celebration and trans joy.”
The Trans Lives Festival, taking place the same weekend as the International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31, is free and open to all ages. Enjoy performances throughout the seven-hour fest, including live music and poetry readings. Browse community resource tables and artist booths. Some vendors will have art for sale, so don’t forget your wallet.
Artist vendor Andy Max of Resonating Art sells original paintings and prints. He said in an email that two of the biggest benefits of a festival centering trans art are “visibility and education.”
“There is a lot of ignorance in society around what it is to be transgender or gender nonconforming,” Max wrote. “And I believe a lot of that is due to a lack of visibility and education.”
Max, a Dubuque-based artist and a trans man, said a lack of trans visibility growing up had a big impact on his life; although he always knew he was a boy, he didn’t learn about trans identities until he was a freshman in college.
“By highlighting the work of transgender artists, you give them a platform to spread awareness and information, and provide a community to those who are most in need of one,” he said.
“To me, the biggest value in centering [trans] art is our joy!” added Lisa B, a multi-disciplinary artist who sells under the moniker LadyGayDHD. “Our joy is resistance” to institutional violence, she said, especially violence wielded against “our Black and brown siblings.”
First Unitarian’s Spick agrees. They see trans joy, and trans art, as a tool against oppression, not an experience separate from it.
“We do this,” Spick said, “so that we can have the energy, sustenance and nourishment to continue living in and fighting against an oppressive society.”
This article was originally published in Little Village’s March 2024 issue. A previous version of this article said proof of COVID vaccination and masks are required at the festival, but these were the 2023 guidelines, not 2024’s. LV regrets this error.
