WHAT: ECLIPSE NIGHTCLUB PRIDE PARTY WHERE: Sioux City, IA WHO: Queens, performers and community members celebrating Pride at Eclipse Nightclub & Cabaret. WHEN: June 5, 2021 PHOTOS BY: Vanessa Nevarez (Divine) WHAT: A night out at Studio 13 WHERE: Iowa City, IA WHO: Rio S. Suave and Corey Alan, founders of Key City Pride, and Studio 13 personalities WHEN: June 12, 2021 PHOTOS BY: Rio S. Suave, founder of Key City Pride
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IOWA — With communities like Monticello and Humboldt joining the Pride momentum, and events of all kinds proliferating to more than 70 now, Pride Month in Iowa continues to expand. Big events coming up in the next three days include a Comedy Night and Scavenger Hunt by Capital City Pride in Des Moines; Pride at Bass Street Landing in the Quad Cities, with drag performances, live music and education workshops Friday and Saturday; and a burst of events in Sioux City. Go to the Pride in Iowa link to see…
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IOWA — Des Moines and Dubuque are leading the way this year for Pride celebrations in Iowa, helping to fill out a Pride Season calendar of at least 70 online or in-person events hosted by an Iowa entity. Capital City Pride in Des Moines is hosting “30 Days of Pride” covering everything from the arts, to exercise and health, to dance and disco, to thoughtful discussions. Key City Pride in Dubuque has a week of events starting June 19 and is also collaborating with nearby communities in Illinois and Wisconsin.…
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GRINNELL, IA — The straight white male history teacher could not have been more repentant. “I drew incorrect conclusions …. I misinterpreted … I did not paint an accurate picture,” he said of an attack letter he wrote about efforts to make Grinnell-Newburg’s public school curriculum more diverse and welcoming. “I failed to reach out… failed to take the time …. misinterpreted… had preconceived notions,” said Kent Kastendick. On he went, in at least 17 different ways, trying to pull back the wave of anger, suspicion and fear he inspired…
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I constantly have conversations with people who commend me for being a writer and within the same breath, assure me that they could never be one. Here’s a story about one of those people. A student of mine, we’ll call her June, regularly attends the weekly IC Speaks workshops at her school, and it’s undeniable–nearly contagious–how excited she is about writing and performing. One week, she brought a friend (or more accurately, dragged her friend) into the workshop by the wrist, amidst groans and protests. When I asked our visitor…
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There’s a common scene Chris Whitmore encounters as animal control coordinator for Iowa City. A family, often from a rural homestead or tiny town, brings in a six-week-old kitten to the shelter for adoption. “Where’s the mother?” Whitmore or her staff will ask. “We don’t know where she went,” they’ll answer. “Well, would you like to try to live-trap her so she can be spayed?” they’re asked. “No, not really,” is usually their answer. “And they just keep the cycle going of bringing kittens in to us year after year,”…
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DES MOINES – A renewed effort is on to ban conversion therapy in Iowa, and Nate Monson is optimistic that the 2020 legislative session will generate some form of significant progress in outlawing a practice widely regarded as abuse. “This is a bipartisan issue,” says Nate Monson, head of Iowa Safe Schools, the nonprofit that is leading a charge against conversion therapy. “A lot of people don’t realize that seven of the bans in other states, done by executive order, were signed by Republican governors. This is something I believe…
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Shelters across Iowa are taking different approaches to try and ensure the homeless people they serve are able to get a good night’s sleep and not just food and shelter. In Iowa City, Shelter House is seeking to raise $40,000 to purchase at least 75 higih-quality mattresses likely to last for almost a decade. They’ll be seeking the public’s support and grant applications to raise the needed. “The mattresses for our emergency shelter are 9-plus years old,” says Mark Sertterh, executive director of the shelter, which served 930 people in…
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DES MOINES — Proteus, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that helps immigrant farmworkers find support to live safely and securely, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Named after the Greek God that transforms to the needs of the people, Proteus focuses on Iowa’s migrant farmworkers, many of whom work sunup ‘til sundown and are therefore rarely seen in their greater communities. The nonprofit estimates it has served 75,000 people since 1979. “Working with the clients and patients we do, these are the most hardworking and grateful individuals I have ever…
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ORANGE CITY –– In eastern and central Iowa, you can take in a sultry drag show several days a week without worry of any hassle from government officials or conservative activists. But in northwest Iowa’s Orange City, at the 3rd annual OC Pride celebration, city officials censored a headlining drag show, imposing a list of conditions for the performance including “no gyrating of buttocks, genitals or breasts” and “no physical contact” between performers and spectators. The city of Orange City announced its censorship of the show days before the performance…
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