In the wake of a nightmarish legislative session for LGBTQ Iowans, a defiant Pride month has come and gone. Throngs of people gathered to celebrate in communities across the state from early morning until the sun faded into darkness, and buildings awash in rainbow hues stretched themselves into the night sky. Perhaps the best description of Pride month I have heard came from Jasper Bowles, Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in Washington, D.C.: “I mean, Pride started as a protest. Now it’s a party — and a party that serves as a placeholder in case it ever needs to be a protest again.”
Much of the focus of late has been on youth: where they go to the bathroom at school, whether they should be extended the common decency of gender affirming chosen names and pronouns, whether or not they should be allowed to choose the time, place, and manner they come out to their parents, whether or not they should hear the word “gay.” In fact, so much of the anti-LGBTQ legislative hysteria has been related to children (who may or may not be LGBTQ themselves) that it almost seems other demographics have been forgotten. [..]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by The Gazette on July 16, 2023.
