It’s World AIDS Day. Since 1988, the first day of December has been recognized as a day on which to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and remember those who died because of the disease. Around the same time World AIDS Day was first commemorated, Iowa began requiring public schools to provide age-appropriate information about HIV/AIDS to […]
LGBTQ
Posted inCommunity/News
Teachers union joins lawsuit with bestselling authors, largest U.S. publisher to challenge Iowa book restrictions
The Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging parts of a state law prohibiting books that depict sex acts from being available in Iowa K-12 school libraries. It’s the second lawsuit filed against Senate File 496 this week. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘I am not shameful’: Iowa Safe Schools, seven students sue the state over anti-LGBTQ law SF 496
On Tuesday, the ACLU of Iowa and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nationwide civil rights organization dedicated to defending and advocating for LGBTQ people, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Des Moines challenging SF 496, the education bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May. “This is a federal civil […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Book Review: ‘Monologues by LGBTQIA+ Writers for LGBTQIA+ Actors’ edited by Alyssa Cokinis
The phrase “representation is important” has become ubiquitous, so commonplace that it’s easy to lose sight of its meaning. On Twitter, or “X,” the phrase is used memetically to accompany pictures of cute, lazy animals, representing a user’s mental state or level of comfort. What does a joke about the importance of reputation obscure? In […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘I want to keep the freedom to read alive and well’: Little Free Library’s Margret Aldrich reflects on the massive growth — and growing importance — of the nonprofit
Margret Aldrich’s childhood was spent on a farm west of Ames reading books, often to her dog. “I lived in a very rural community, but my dad always took time to take me to our small-town public library once a week so I could stock up on books,” Aldrich recalled. As an adult, she works […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
‘At Halloween, I’m at the height of my powers’: An interview with writer Carmen Maria Machado, currently teaching ‘the art of haunting’ at UI
Celebrated experimental writer Carmen Maria Machado is back in Iowa City this fall. The Allentown, Pennsylvania native earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2018, and is back as a visiting associate professor in the Workshop teaching a very October-friendly graduate course, “The Art of Haunting.” Machado has written three books, including the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘More than 1,000 books’ removed from Iowa schools, as districts work to comply with new state book ban; Scholastic apologizes for book fair ‘bigot button’
The impact of the book banning provisions in SF 496, which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law in May, is becoming clearer as the Des Moines Register continues to update its database of books pulled from classrooms and school libraries. “More than 1,000 books have already been removed from 39 public school districts,” the Register […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Anti-trans former college swimmer is Gov. Reynolds’ special guest for her biggest fundraiser of the year
It’s been six months since Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the most recent bills targeting transgender Iowans into law, and on Monday the governor showed she intends to keep using her status as a leader figure on the transphobic Republican right to raise money. Reynolds announced Riley Gaines will be her special guest at this year’s […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa mayor bans Pride group from local parade in apparent violation of the First Amendment
The small southwest Iowa town of Essex banned an LGBTQ group from marching in its Labor Day parade Monday. The Page County town of about 700 boasted that its parade welcomes participants from all around southwest Iowa, but that welcome was withdrawn by Essex’s mayor for Shenandoah Pride, a group of LGBTQ residents from across […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Waterloo City Council repeals ban on conversion therapy passed in May, leaving LGBTQ locals ‘dumbfounded’
During its regular session on Monday night, the Waterloo City Council gave final approval to an amendment repealing the ban on conversion therapy the council enacted in May. The public first became aware of the council’s reversal during a special council meeting held on Aug. 14, for the sole purpose of taking a first vote […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘For 10 years I dreamed of bringing something like this to Iowa City’: Dreamwell Theatre to host no-holds-barred queer variety show this fall
The details are not yet set, but Iowa City’s Dreamwell Theatre is bringing back its QueertopIA event this fall. QueertopIA is an offshoot of the Queertopia project in Minneapolis, “a longstanding tradition of an all-inclusive, no holds barred ‘cabaret of queer love’ started in Minneapolis by Jeffry Lusiak and carried on by Nastalie Q,” according […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
‘There’s a difference between a safe space and a brave space’: Q&A with Waukee GSA leader Naomi Pittman
Rarely are a student’s biggest bullies the governor and legislature of their state. But that’s the case for many queer K-12 students in Iowa, who are now subject to several laws passed by Iowa’s legislature and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. Plenty of adults and talking heads will gladly share their opinions, but it’s young […]
