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

Hard truths: Russia’s invasion and our own strong-arm history
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces the U.S. to acknowledge and evolve from its own international bullying history.

The gay agenda: “unicorns” and open communication (AOQC)
Dear AOQC, What exactly is the gay agenda, and should I be frightened? -- Worried Straight Gal in Des Moines Dear Worried Straight, Oh boy, am I tired of answering this one! What a stupid ... er, silly ... question! We Queer Folk are a community, but that community...



‘Some Answers I Give My White Friends”
Award-winning poet Caleb Rainey helps white allies understand how to authentically support Black Lives Matter.



About the missing $30,000: why I had to write it
I wrote one of the hardest stories I’ve ever had to write, earlier this week. It was a piece about $30,000 in donations to a revered LGBTQ+ Pride organization that is “unaccounted for.” I wrote it as a freelance writer for another publication, but an angry social...


Victims of private violence will suffer the most for Will Smith’s public slap of Chris Rock
Thanks to Will Smith’s super-public slap of Chris Rock, I’m willing to bet that thousands more face slaps, punches, hits and kicks are taking place in private these last few days.


Erotica is everywhere, including the Bible
“Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle….” Sapphira explores finding erotica in the Bible and other surprising places and ways.


How a teacher feels about censorship in public schools
What would Mr. Smith think of the censorship happening in public schools today? Grinnell High School history teacher Kent Mick asks.


Students Say censorship promotes “narrow-mindedness,” prevents “full research”
In the new Students Say in The Real Mainstream, Grinnell High School students share how they feel about censorship in public schools.


A frown, a lesbian lens, and self-deprecating humor: Angry Old Queer Chick
Cat Sinclair embraces being old, cantankerous, lesbian, and shamelessly in pursuit of serious but funny answers to any question you may have



The gay agenda: “unicorns” and open communication (AOQC)
Dear AOQC, What exactly is the gay agenda, and should I be frightened? -- Worried Straight Gal in Des Moines Dear Worried Straight, Oh boy, am I tired of answering this one! What a stupid ... er, silly ... question! We Queer Folk are a community, but that community...



‘Some Answers I Give My White Friends”
Award-winning poet Caleb Rainey helps white allies understand how to authentically support Black Lives Matter.



About the missing $30,000: why I had to write it
I wrote one of the hardest stories I’ve ever had to write, earlier this week. It was a piece about $30,000 in donations to a revered LGBTQ+ Pride organization that is “unaccounted for.” I wrote it as a freelance writer for another publication, but an angry social...