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Category: Lead Stories

Harrisburg restaurant, drag community, LGBTQ youth group weather religious furor spreading to library board elections

Harrisburg restaurant, drag community, LGBTQ youth group weather religious furor spreading to library board elections

by | Mar 15, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , | 0

HARRISBURG, IL — First, a coalition of conservative Christian churches began attacking an LGBTQ youth group, calling it a recruitment tool to the “transsexual and homosexual lifestyle.”

Then, the coalition attacked the public library, and a moderate local church. Next up: drag performers and the gay-owned restaurant that started hosting them.

Now, two anti-LGBTQ candidates are running for the Harrisburg Public Library Board.

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Carbondale town hall, forum focus on LGBTQ; Royalty Pageant coming; Mt. Vernon Pride event, and more

Carbondale town hall, forum focus on LGBTQ; Royalty Pageant coming; Mt. Vernon Pride event, and more

by | Mar 11, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , | 0

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS — Starting with Monday’s Town Hall, Rainbow Cafe has four big events coming up along with its daily work of providing support and resources to LGBTQ youth and adults.

Plus, Southern Il PrideFest sponsors a Carbondale City Council Candidate Forum.

Check out Mt. Vernon’s early start to the Pride season. And find links to learn about the Choate Mental Health crisis and how family members and activists are reacting.

It’s all part of the latest TRM Southern Illinois Weekly Update.

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Protests, Banned Book Storytime, St. Patrick’s Day, billiards in Fairfield, plus Pride in Iowa City, Ottumwa, Fort Madison

Protests, Banned Book Storytime, St. Patrick’s Day, billiards in Fairfield, plus Pride in Iowa City, Ottumwa, Fort Madison

by | Mar 11, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , , | 0

Starting with rallies today in Davenport and Cedar Rapids, eastern Iowa is bustling with LGBTQ affirming and intersectional events coming up.

Read about Pride happenings in Iowa City, Fort Madison, Ottumwa, and more.

Find out about some fun sports opportunities soon: a huge women’s professional billiard tournament and related events in Fairfield, biking and disc golf in Iowa City, and roller derby in Eldridge near the Quad Cities, and Iowa City.

Plus, it’s a great time to make your own earrings at Beadology Iowa in Iowa City. And if you’re looking for a few recommendations for corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, we have two starting suggestions.

It’s all in the latest TRM Eastern Iowa Weekly Update.

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Pride plans from Bolingbrook, Elgin, Plainfield, Naperville and more; Green book exhibit, Elgin Juneteenth fest honor Black history

Pride plans from Bolingbrook, Elgin, Plainfield, Naperville and more; Green book exhibit, Elgin Juneteenth fest honor Black history

by | Mar 9, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , | 0

Northern Illinois is bursting with LGBTQ+ Pride events and more, including two great ways to honor Black history.

Check out Pride events this weekend and coming up in Bolingbrook, Elgin, Naperville, Plainfield, and Rockford.

Plus, explore an LGBTQ+ ‘gayming’ event in Shorewood, the upcoming Juneteenth Festival in Elgin, and a somber exhibit about The Green Book of the mid-20th century, at Skokie’s Holocaust Museum.

It’s all in the new TRM Northern Illinois & Chicagoland Weekly Update.

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Central Iowa businesses oppose anti-LGBTQ bills, ‘UNI Seven’ honored, Waterloo conversion therapy ban delayed, Postcards with Pints in Ames, more

Central Iowa businesses oppose anti-LGBTQ bills, ‘UNI Seven’ honored, Waterloo conversion therapy ban delayed, Postcards with Pints in Ames, more

by | Mar 9, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 0

More than 69 businesses in Ankeny, the West Des Moines community of Valley Junction, and Des Moines’ East Village have all joined statements opposing the anti-LGBTQ legislation moving fast through the Iowa Legislature.

Plus, learn about the UNI Seven and the stance they took in March 1970 that led to the Cedar Falls university’s Cultural Center.

Coming up, Ames Pride offers a “Postcards with Pints” event and showing of a renowned documentary as part of the International Day of Transgender Visibility coming up.

It’s all in the new TRM Weekly Update for Central Iowa.

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

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

by | Mar 7, 2023 | , , , , , , , , | 0

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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A second Sunday protest event, fundraising for pet welfare, DBQ Pride Family Picnic, MCC fun, and more

A second Sunday protest event, fundraising for pet welfare, DBQ Pride Family Picnic, MCC fun, and more

by | Mar 4, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , | 0

There are now two big protest events happening in Des Moines Sunday, starting at 12:30. Read more about the March on Iowa for LGBTQ Rights and the Rally to Resist.

You can also check out this weekend’s annual Beadology Iowa tradition, Voices of the Stones, happening today and Sunday.

Coming up soon, explore a couple of events at Davenport’s MCC of the Quad Cities, and a supper-time “carry-out” fundraiser for companion animals in Cedar Rapids.

And finally, Dubuque announces its June 3 Pride Family Picnic and Block Party. It’s all in TRM’s Eastern Iowa Weekly Update.

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Events planned across Iowa to fight anti-LGBTQ bills

Events planned across Iowa to fight anti-LGBTQ bills

by | Mar 2, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , | 0

You can join five events coming up to protest or learn about the anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in the Iowa Legislature.

Find out about events happening this Sunday in Des Moines, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City.

Also coming up: the online “Urgent Meeting for Iowa Trans* Families,” a chance to focus in on proposals affecting transgender youth and their families. Those bills are the ones likely to make it through this Friday’s “funnel” for committee approval.

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One Iowa Action posts tracking page for Republicans’ anti-LGBTQ+ proposals

One Iowa Action posts tracking page for Republicans’ anti-LGBTQ+ proposals

by | Mar 1, 2023 | , , , , , , , , | 0

One Iowa Action has a page tracking 29 bills that include measures considered anti-LGBTQ+ .

The page, an annual service by the lobbying arm of One Iowa, is gaining even more focus this year. Iowa is among 14 states noted by the ACLU as having a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed among state legislators.

Here’s a look at the One Iowa Action tracking page, some of the bills it’s tracking, and Iowa’s overall legislative process, including its “funnel weeks” — one of which ends this Friday.

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Killman holds candidate event, Rainbow Cafe calls out Tennessee anti-LGBTQ bills, and more

Killman holds candidate event, Rainbow Cafe calls out Tennessee anti-LGBTQ bills, and more

by | Feb 27, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , | 0

A bathroom bill that doesn’t even require multi-gender bathrooms triggers an Illinois state representative to cancel a planned appearance in Edwardsville.

Meanwhile, a Carbondale nonprofit is putting out a call of support for LGBTQ activist groups in Tennessee, where two anti-LGBTQ bills have advanced and are on the verge of becoming law.

You can also learn about some pivotal Carbondale City Council happenings: a “Meet the Candidate” event by Clare Killman, and a gun violence study before the City Council Tuesday.

it’s all part of the TRM Southern Illinois Weekly Update.

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Western Iowa to have LGBTQ Pride events in Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Orange City and Omaha/Council Bluffs

Western Iowa to have LGBTQ Pride events in Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Orange City and Omaha/Council Bluffs

by | Feb 27, 2023 | , , , , , , , , | 0

If you live in western Iowa, you have at least four LGBTQ+ Pride events to choose from this year.

Read about plans underway for SUX Pride June 2 and 3, Fort Dodge Pride Fest coming June 24, Heartland Pride for Omaha and Council Bluffs on July 15, and Pride Orange City in October.

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LGBTQ Pride plans announced for Galena, Quad Cities, Kewanee; two new dispensaries may open in Moline

LGBTQ Pride plans announced for Galena, Quad Cities, Kewanee; two new dispensaries may open in Moline

by | Feb 26, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , | 0

The Galena Pride Picnic, the Pride Party at Bass Street Landing in Moline, and the first-ever Kewanee LGBT Pride Fest are among the Northwest Illinois LGBTQ Pride events coming together.

Read about them here, along with the new name for the group that runs the Quad Cities Pride Fest, happening this year June 2 and 3.

Plus, learn about the cannabis dispensaries aiming to open in Moline.

It’s all part of the TRM Northwest Illinois Weekly Update.

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