Iowa can now enforce all parts of SF 496 — commonly known as the “don’t say gay” bill because of its provisions prohibiting references to LGBTQ topics in K-6 schools, requiring written parental permission to use a student’s preferred pronouns or name if it is does not match the gender listed in school records, and […]
LGBTQ Rights
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Kim Reynolds kicks off her ‘Legacy Tour’ just days after signing bill undermining the rights of trans Iowans
The “Governor Kim Reynolds Legacy Tour” kicks off in Cedar Rapids on Thursday at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The 90-minute event starts at 6 p.m. “Hors D’oeuvres will be served,” according to the Iowa Republican Party’s ticket page for the event. “Do not miss your chance to show Governor Reynolds our appreciation for her […]
Posted inStatewide
‘Chipping away at the rights of Iowans’: House passes bill to eliminate local civil rights protections for trans people
On Thursday, the Iowa House approved a bill that prohibits local governments from having any civil rights ordinances that provide greater protections for rights than state law does. Eliminating the power of local governments to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people is one of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ stated priorities for her final legislative session as governor.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House Republicans advance bills to eliminate local civil rights protections, allow parents to force LGBTQ kids into ‘conversion therapy’
Republican members of two Iowa House Judiciary subcommittees advanced two bills on Monday that continue the anti-LGBTQ agenda Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislative Republicans have enshrined in state law since 2022. As the hearings were underway, supporters of transgender rights and advocates for LGBTQ Iowans protested in the rotunda and halls of the State Capitol. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Reading is so important, but…’: Iowa House panel advances expanded ban on gender, sexuality materials in schools
The House Education Committee moved forward Wednesday with legislation that would prohibit instruction and materials on gender identity and sexual orientation for all K-12 students. HF 2121, approved 14-9, is an expansion of the 2023 ban on programs, material, instruction, surveys and questionnaires and “promotion” related to gender identity and sexual orientation for K-6 students. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines’ new indie bookstores want to help Latino, LGBTQ readers ‘see themselves on the shelf’
Like a book, an independent bookstore can be a spiritual oasis in a chaotic world. It probably says something about our world, then, that three indie bookstores sprouted up in central Iowa over the past 18 months. From pushing back against book bans and COVID-era malaise to capitalizing on online reading trends, Shelf Love DSM, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Local faith leaders discuss ways to resist Christian nationalism: ‘We have a responsibility to cause some good trouble’
A group of Johnson County faith leaders gathered in an independent town hall on Tuesday, May 27 to speak against harm caused by the Trump of administration. Uniting under the name Voices of Faith, speakers in the group represented a variety of religious beliefs, primarily Christian denominations. The Voices of Faith Town Hall gathered at […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘It was necessary to become activists’: LGBTQ-affirming Iowa religious groups find church in quiet rooms, loud rallies
Sunday services of the Ames Friends Meeting are held at their meetinghouse on S Maple Avenue, marked by a sign in the front yard declaring “All are welcome.” I visited on a sunny spring morning. Beams of sunlight seemed to make the houseplants against the walls glow. Occasional birdsong seeped through a barely open window. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
ACLU of Iowa warns five cities that their anti-drag ordinances are unconstitutional
The ACLU of Iowa has sent letters to city councils in five communities, asking councilmembers to update their city codes and remove language classifying performances by male and female impersonators as “adult entertainment” banned or restricted by local law. ACLU of Iowa staff attorney Shefali Aurora said during an online news conference on Wednesday that the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
What’s the point of Pride? Trans/genderfluid Iowans discuss persistence, fear and how to spite the bigots in power
Dr. Emma Denney (she/they) is the community resource navigator at the LGBTQ Iowa Archives & Library in Iowa City. She regularly tracks anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the state legislature, traveling to Des Moines to speak against them. She holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Iowa and makes music under the name .em. V […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Last-minute amendment to House budget bill targets healthcare for trans Americans; bill would take Medicaid from 86,000 Iowans
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the tax and spending bill supported by President Trump early on Thursday morning. A last-minute change to the bill, apparently to make it more appealing to rightwing members of Congress threatening to vote no, targets transgender Americans. An amendment to the bill’s ban on Medicaid paying […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Foreseeing ‘irreparable harm,’ federal judge blocks most of Iowa’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law with preliminary injunction
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction late on Thursday, blocking parts of the anti-LGBTQ education bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May 2023. SF 496 attracted nationwide attention for its school book ban provision, but it went well beyond that, making changes to state law to effectively erase almost any acknowledgment […]
