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 […]
LGBTQ
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town of about 700 boasted that its parade welcomes participants from all around southwest Iowa, but that welcome was withdrawn by Essex’s mayor for Shenandoah Pride, a group of LGBTQ residents from across […]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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Amid an anti-LGBTQ culture war in Iowa schools, the GSA is a safe space — with constitutional protections
If you’ve seen a student-organized drag show or queer rights protest over the past couple decades, odds are a GSA is behind it. GSAs — gender-sexuality alliances — serve as both social clubs and advocacy orgs for LGBTQ students, those questioning their identity and straight, cisgender allies in middle school, high school and college, and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The new state laws affecting LGBTQ students this fall
In many important ways, the bills passed by Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds this year that targeted transgender students echoed the law enacted last year banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ or women’s sports at schools or colleges in Iowa. Like the sports ban, the new laws […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Essay: A Floridian encounters beauty, love, bad weather and discomforting deja vu in Iowa
I knew nothing about Iowa before I knew it was taking my partner away from me. The original plan was to break up at the end of the summer, before college; four years later, we’ve somehow made the long distance work. The first time I visited Billy in Iowa was fall 2019. Since then, I’ve […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Employees at Iowa’s only unionized Starbucks ‘strike with Pride’ as part of national campaign
This story originally appeared in LV Daily, Little Village’s Monday-Friday email newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered for free to your inbox. The sky was overcast early Friday morning, but spirits were high on the picket-line outside the downtown Iowa City Starbucks. The store’s workers were joining unionized workers at 150 other Starbucks across […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Drag ordinances in three Iowa cities are unconstitutional, argues ACLU of Iowa
This story originally appeared in LV Daily, Little Village’s Monday-Friday email newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered for free to your inbox. On Tuesday, the ACLU of Iowa sent letters to the city councils of Dyersville, Pella and Waukee advising them to revise their ordinances restricting drag shows because they are unconstitutional. All three […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Pickleball meets you where you are’: Iowans of all stripes are picking up the paddle, launching leagues
No matter the question, the answer is always pickleball. “Pickleball meets you where you are,” said Emma Clark, a career coach at Cornell College. Clark grew up playing racquetball in Illinois, but the sport isn’t as popular today, so she searched for a racquetball-adjacent activity instead. When the Smithfield Tennis and Pickleball Center in Cedar […]
