Thousands of people participated in the Iowa City’s 51st Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday. The parade began at College Green at noon and ended on the corner of East Washington Street and South Linn Street. After the parade, there were musical performances by Alisabeth Von Presley, Miss Christine, Alyx Rush and the Quire of Eastern Iowa. The […]
Pride Month
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Jo Allen celebrates being both Black and queer with Pride and Soul skate night
Pride and Juneteenth have so many intersections to navigate. Jo Allen has challenged Des Moines to take those roads and realize that every marginalized community in the city are fighting for the same rights against the same people. “I was just recognizing that there wasn’t anybody that was doing something that focused on the intersections […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans on the asexual spectrum face misconceptions, lack of visibility
By Alyssa Craven for IowaWatch Growing up, Noelie Boardman felt like there was something different about her. “As I hit puberty, I noticed a lot of people around me were getting into relationships and talking about sex, especially in high school,” Boardman, a 2021 Simpson College graduate, said. “That was just never a thing I […]
Posted inCOVID-19
City Park Pool will open for the season on Saturday
City Park Pool will open for the 2021 season on Saturday, the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department confirmed on Wednesday. There had been the possibility of delaying opening day because of a leak in the pool’s surge tank, but repairs were finished on schedule. The pool will be open on Saturday from 6:15 to […]
Posted inCommunity/News, COVID-19
Iowa City Pride hosting virtual parade on Saturday, joining Juneteenth march
Pride events across the country were swiftly canceled earlier this spring, as the risks posed by COVID-19 became clear, but many LGBTQ organizations promised not to let Pride Month pass without a celebration. Iowa City Pride will host its own socially distant celebration this Saturday, June 20, with a virtual parade. Local drag queens and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Aime Wichtendahl, Iowa’s first trans elected official, reflects on coming out, her run for Hiawatha City Council and Iowa’s COVID-19 failures
Aime Wichtendahl didn’t run for office until 2015, but she’s been intrigued by politics for more than three decades. “When I was 8 years old, I remember following the ’88 presidential election between Bush and Dukakis,” she said. “And interestingly, I was really mad at my parents for voting for Dukakis. Which is weird now […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Grinnell College students are collecting interviews with LGBTQ Iowans for oral histories project
June 28 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City, an event that catapulted the struggle for LGBTQ rights into the public consciousness. Of course, this struggle did not begin with Stonewall, or end with any law or Supreme Court decision — nor is LGBTQ history limited to high-profile protests in big cities. A dedicated group of Grinnell College students and their professor are
Posted inCommunity/News
Sexuality, gossip, confusion and Catholic school
I don’t need another drink but say I need another drink as I read the situation, one I’ve found myself facing for the past year or so. I’m attracted to women, but don’t know how to view it without a lens. Media portrayals say it’s hot, Catholicism says it’s not. Sexuality clouded by a sea of confusion.
Posted inCommunity/News
A reading list for Gabe Erickson
In an op-ed published yesterday by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Diversity Focus’ Gabe Erickson asks, “Why is Rachel Dolezal held to a different principle than Bruce Jenner?” The article continues: “No one said Bruce is falsely portraying himself as a woman or called him a fraud.” (That, in fact, is not true.) Erickson’s op-ed begins […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Eat it: a (very NSFW) playlist
Pride is upon us once more! In honor of the month-long sex- and identity-positive bacchanal, we offer this humble (i.e., not exhaustive, so if we missed something, do tell!) playlist of odes to eating…well, you know. Enjoy! 1. “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” Marvin Gaye, 1976 “Ah I’m gonna give the ultimate love, baby, […]
Posted inCommunity/News, Letters
Letters: Emma Goldman Clinic continues to support the LGBTQ community
In 1988, Mark Ruggeberg opened The Union Block Bakery and Restaurant in West Branch, Iowa. At the time, Mark — who currently is the…
