Rich Rumsey is an active guy. He likes to play volleyball, dodgeball and go biking. But when he joined Pride Sports League in 2019, it wasn’t for sports. It was for the community. “It’s an organized way to find other people that are similar to yourself,” he said. “It’s a great way to meet people.” […]
LGBTQ
Posted inCommunity/News
Waterloo City Council prohibits conversion therapy; Rep. Salmon says ban violates ‘parents’ rights’
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. This week, Waterloo became the second city in Iowa to ban conversion therapy. The city council voted 6-1 to adopt an ordinance prohibiting “any medical or mental health professional” from “provid[ing] or […]
Posted inCommunity/News
During the ‘wild, bucking ’70s’, Iowa City’s lesbian and gay communities were often at odds. A crisis brought them together.
This article is part one in a three-part series from Adria Carpenter exploring the history of HIV/AIDS activism in Iowa City. Part two and three will be published in the weeks to come. In the early 1980s, Rev. John Harper was a fresh-faced graduate student at the University of Iowa and a semi-active member of […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Iowa City receives the nation’s leading anti-trans personality with trans-affirming chalk, chants, music and disruption
“I’ll be speaking at the University of Iowa tomorrow night,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. “I feel confident that I will be warmly welcomed with smiles and good cheer from all of the students on campus.” Walsh was being sarcastic; the conservative commentator who found his niche promoting misinformation about and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Sharon Malheiro, attorney who helped win marriage equality for Iowans, has died
Sharon Malheiro, an attorney whose career of fighting “for the underdog” spanned decades and who secured some of the most significant civil rights victories in Iowa, died on Sunday night. Her death was announced on social media by One Iowa, the nonprofit advocacy organization for LGBTQ Iowans she co-founded in 2006. “Sharon’s legacy of service, […]
Posted inLetters
Letter from local faith leaders: Anti-LGBTQ legislation puts Iowans in danger
Submitted by David Borger Germann, Executive Pastor, Sanctuary Community Church Over the last seven weeks of the Iowa legislative session, numerous anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced. Bills restricting teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity as well as acknowledgement of gender identity without a parent’s permission are finding their way through our legislative processes. Legislation […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Students across Iowa walk out of class to protest anti-LGBTQ bills: ‘We want to keep our friends alive’
Students at schools across Iowa walked out of class on Wednesday to protest against more than two dozen anti-LGBTQ bills Republican members of the Iowa Legislature have introduced this year. The bills include sweeping so-called “education reform” bills. One would prohibit teachers and schools from mentioning any gender-related issues to younger students, force all Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Groups will rally in Cedar Rapids to support transgender kids, while Mike Pence campaigns at CR Pizza Ranch
A coalition of community organizations will hold a rally in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday in support of transgender students, as political attacks on those young people by state and national Republican leaders continue. Multiple bills targeting transgender students, designed to restrict support schools and teachers can provide, and aiming to ban books touching on gender […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds boasts about her anti-LGBTQ school policies, calls for new law restricting students’ access to books conservatives don’t like
Speaking at a gathering of conservative activists on Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds expressed her opposition to schools offering support to transgender students and called for a new law to restrict student access to books some conservative parents find objectionable. The governor characterized these proposals as part of her agenda of “parental rights,” a term she […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds rally for LGBTQ Day on the Hill, protesting bills ‘meant to scare us back into the closet’
Around 200 demonstrators filled the Capitol Rotunda to protest anti-trans bills making their way through the Iowa Legislature, and meet with their representatives. The rally was hosted by One Iowa, a nonprofit founded in 2005 to advance LGBTQ rights, and One Iowa Action, for LGBTQ Day on the Hill last Wednesday, Feb. 1. Courtney Reyes, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Mean-spirited’ bill restricting how teachers can support transgender students moves quickly through Iowa House
On Tuesday afternoon, the three members of an Iowa House subcommittee listened to an hour of testimony on HF 9, a bill aimed at preventing teachers and other school staff from acknowledging the identities of transgender students unless they first receive parental permission to do so. With only a few exceptions, the speakers testified strongly […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Eastern Iowa’s queer softball league has had a home run of a year
It’s been a promising year for the Lambda Softball Association of Eastern Iowa (LSA). After a two-year process, LSA and Iowa City became the 48th member of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). To become a member city, LSA had to meet with the NAGAAA board of directors and delegates from each member […]
