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

by Staff Reports | Mar 9, 2023 | 2023, Archives, BIPOC, Central Iowa, Fetishes and Kinks, Home Page Lead, Iowa, Iowa Lead, LGBTQ+, March 2023, News, Politics and Voting, Social Justice, Topics | 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.

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

by Staff Reports | Feb 27, 2023 | 2023, Archives, February 2023, Home Page Lead, Illinois, Illinois Lead, LGBTQ+, News, Politics and Voting, Social Justice, Southern Illinois, Topics | 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.

Learn about 19th-century transgender war hero in Russia, “second-wave Klan” roots in southern Illinois

by Staff Reports | Feb 19, 2023 | 2023, Archives, BIPOC, February 2023, LGBTQ+, News, Online Event of the Week, Social Justice, Southern Illinois | 0

Acclaimed sci-fi author Cheryl Morgan, the first-ever openly transgender winner of the Hugo Award for literary achievement, will lead an online talk Feb. 21 about Aleksandr Aleksandrov, a Ukrainian-born Russian war hero in the 19th century who lived as a man after being born a woman.

Historian Darrel Dexter will share his research Saturday into the “second-wave Klan” history of southern Illinois. Dexter’s talk at the Carbondale Public Library, also available online, will outline the rise and fall of the Klan during its second life in the early 1900s.

These two online events are part of TRM’s new weekly Online Event of the Week, highlighting virtual events that help present a more complete picture of society that includes marginalized identities.

Black History Month Art from ‘Embracing Our Differences’

by Staff Reports | Feb 15, 2023 | 2023, Archives, Arts and Entertainment, Features, February 2023, Home Page Lead, News, Social Justice, Topics | 0

Embracing Our Differences has grown from a Florida effort to an international cause involving tens of thousands across 119 countries.

Its leaders gathered submissions that resonated with Black History Month and gave The Real Mainstream a chance to share that work here.

Check out this specially curated collection, featuring nine pieces from eight different artists exploring different themes of Black history, and excerpts from their Artists’ Statements.

‘Some Answers I Give My White Friends”

by Caleb Rainey | May 2, 2022 | 2020, 2022, April 2022, Archives, BIPOC, Columns and editorials, Iowa, July 2020, Opinion, Opinion Lead, Social Justice | 0

Award-winning poet Caleb Rainey helps white allies understand how to authentically support Black Lives Matter.

Good News, After School Satan conflict likely headed to dinner tables, church gatherings

by Christine Hawes | Feb 11, 2022 | 2022, Archives, Columns and editorials, Eastern Iowa, February 2022, Illinois, Iowa, Northwest Illinois, Opinion, Social Justice, Spirituality, Topics | 0

Odd as it is to say, we need things like After School Satan Clubs, whether you believe in a god or no god at all. But especially if you’re LGBTQ.

Benefits of being black include patience, critical thinking, perseverance

by Thurgood Brooks | Feb 5, 2022 | 2022, Archives, BIPOC, Columns and editorials, February 2022, Opinion, Opinion Lead, Social Justice | 0

Think back to the historic March on Washington in 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the...

With qualified immunity, who’s policing the police?

by Eric Puryear | Nov 10, 2021 | 2021, Archives, Columns and editorials, November 2021, Opinion, Social Justice, Topics | 0

Qualified Immunity is the judge-invented legal doctrine that makes it impossible for many people...

Move more police funds to social services, decriminalize cannabis: top choices to lessen police brutality in new “Break the Binary” poll

by Christine Hawes | Aug 10, 2021 | 2021, Archives, August 2021, BIPOC, Columns and editorials, Opinion, Social Justice, Topics | 0

Our new “Break the Binary” poll is designed to improve public discourse by countering binary thinking along with its scary step-sibling, triangulation. Read about results of our first pilot poll; participate in the new one.