It’s Friday, May 31, 2024.
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Hey there folks, it’s Amie, and happy kick-off weekend to Pride Month! 🏳️🌈
Longtime readers of this newsletter probably know I am one of The Gays™. But what you might not know is that, for 10 years, I was a board member of Cedar Valley Pridefest (CVP) in Waterloo, helping to start and grow it into the two-day celebration it’s become. (I hung up my board member badge in 2022.)
Pride fests, like most summer festivals, are put on largely by volunteers donating their time and talents (and a TON of work). For me, all that hard work paid off when attendees came out dressed to the nines, laughing and cheering along with the acts, and generally finding community they weren’t sure still existed these days in our Republican-dominated state.
All that to say: Check out a Pride near you this month!
Davenport, Dubuque, Ottumwa, and Sioux City are holding their Pride festivals this weekend. But if you can’t make one of those, there are plenty more coming up in June (and others in July and August, like CVP’s!)
Check out this list of Iowa pride festivals in 2024 here.
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Pride mural unveiling in the East Village on May 28, 2024. (Avery Staker/Iowa Starting Line)
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Capital City Pride in Des Moines (next weekend) kicked off Pride Month on Tuesday by unveiling a permanent sidewalk mural in the East Village, near longtime gay bar The Blazing Saddle.
Artists Cat Rocketship and Dani Awesome had been painting it since May 8. Read Nikoel’s story on that here.
“We’ve all had tough times and we are going through a tough period in this state, and I think people need to see this right now,” Awesome said. “I hope that people are able to see this and feel welcome and know that we’re here.”
Send me your thoughts on Pride festivals, or Iowa’s stance on the LGBTQ+ crowd; I’ll put your responses in next week’s Reader Sound-Off.
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Profile pictures from the social media accounts of Hardin County Democratic Supervisor candidate Brad Rewoldt and Lisa Lawler.
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There is a good chance that a MAGA Republican running as a Democrat on paper could win the June 4 Hardin County Supervisor Democratic primary—unless longtime local Democrat Lisa Lawler can pull off a successful write-in campaign to secure the nomination.
Why?
“I wanted to be the first Democrat in Hardin County running for an office to back Donald Trump,” Eldora resident Brad Rewoldt told Starting Line.
“And I will firmly back Donald Trump again, and that’s probably going to piss off a lot of Democrats.”
Read the full story from Ty Rushing here.
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Despite intimidation, harassment, and threats from Trump and his allies, a New York jury found Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about their alleged affair out of fears that it would hurt his chances of winning the 2016 election.
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A Trump-loving Eldora man changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat to run for local office, much to the dismay of the Hardin County Democratic Party.
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Queer doulas make childbirth safer for Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people, but barriers remain. Here’s what you need to know.
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Queer doulas make childbirth safer for Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people, but barriers remain. Here’s what you need to know.
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Dags is a polite, well-behaved boy who loves to go on walks and meet new people (and dogs). He’d love to have a dog friend in his new home. Dags is good in the car and on a leash, though he sometimes pulls when he gets excited. His foster family has said he gets better as the walk goes on. If you want to meet this good boy, reach out the ARL.
Luna can be shy at first, but don’t let that fool you. When she warms up, she loves to cuddle and follow you around. She loves toys and played well with the dogs in her previous home. All she asks is for a calm, mature home with people (and animals) who will respect her space. You can meet her by reaching out to the ARL.
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On Republicans’ intent to make it harder for couples to access in-vitro fertilization (IVF):
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“Grateful to now be on the other side of that journey with two kiddos age 3 and age 6 months. But it took 3 years, 3 rounds of IVF, dozens of injections, years of heartache, and thousands of dollars.” ~Sarah G.
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Des Moines musician and LGBTQ+ activist Keenan Crow released a solo EP, “Ambient Anachronisms,” last week. It’s “an attempt to merge cutting edge music technology and classic recording techniques,” according to Crow. Check it out here.
Applications for this year’s Iowa Youth Congress and the State of Iowa Youth Advisory Council are due by tomorrow, June 1, according to Bri Deason, a Youth Development Specialist with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Learn more about both in the links above.
Adult Queer Prom: Rainbow Regale, a fundraiser for Lavender Legal Center, will be Friday, June 7, from 7-9 p.m. at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids. Learn more here.
West Des Moines author and lawyer Laura Snider will publish her latest psychological thriller, “Molly Sand Must Die,” on Aug. 13. Preorder it here.
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