Author: Aime Wichtendahl

Transgender pioneer Wichtendahl highlights hope while fighting Iowa’s anti-LGBTQ+ bills

Transgender pioneer Wichtendahl highlights hope while fighting Iowa’s anti-LGBTQ+ bills

Posted by | Mar 7, 2023 | , , , , , , , ,

Aime Wichtendahl, Iowa’s first-ever openly transgender elected official, has been at the forefront of all the protests and efforts to stop a flood of anti-LGBTQ+ bills.

The two-term Hiawatha City Council member was in Cedar Rapids when former Vice President Mike Pence swing through to spew anti-transgender rhetoric. She spoke before an Iowa House submittee, trying to convince its members to stop a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors.

And Wichtendahl, also the One Iowa Donna Red Wing Advocate of the Year 2021, gave a rousing speech before more than 1,000 Iowans at One Iowa’s Rally to Resist at the Iowa Capitol Sunday

“Our liberties we prize, our rights we shall maintain.” Those are the words on the Iowa state flag, that Wichtendahl hearkens in her column about the ongoing battle to stop Iowa Republicans from rolling back LGBTQ+ rights.

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“The Way of Water” is stunning, important and helps redeem the original “Avatar”

“The Way of Water” is stunning, important and helps redeem the original “Avatar”

Posted by | Jan 12, 2023 | , , , , , , ,

Like many, Aime Wichtendahl was initially a skeptic about “The Way of Water,” James Cameron’s massive and much-anticipated sequel to the original “Avatar” film.

But after taking in the three-hour film, Wichtendahl is a fan of the new “Avatar 2” and gained a renewed appreciation of the original “Avatar” released in 2009.

“James Cameron is trying to help us learn. By tapping into the universal nostalgia we all feel – that once there was a time everything was perfect before someone screwed it up – he’s trying to tell us something. He’s trying to wake us up to how we’re impacting the world around us. ‘The Way of Water’ illustrates that despite our best efforts, humanity remains incapable of change.“

Read Wichtendahl’s review of this blockbuster film here.

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Largest-ever survey of transgender Americans underway through Nov. 21

Largest-ever survey of transgender Americans underway through Nov. 21

Posted by | Nov 15, 2022 | , , , , , , ,

With new efforts to reach marginalized identities like the indigenous and people without homes, a national organization is conducting the U.S. Trans Survey, the largest-ever survey of transgender Americans.

The deadline to participate in the survey is Nov. 21, and this is the first time it’s happened since 2015. The survey is conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and will help activists, caregivers, and community leaders better understand the transgender experience across the country, organizers say.

“This is a trans survey by trans people and for trans people,” says Josie Caballero, the National Center’s special projects director.

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