A second lawsuit against portions of an education law passed by Iowa Republicans and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds just dropped this week. Penguin Random House, a major US book publisher, filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging SF 496 for banning some of the publishers’ books from Iowa schools. Joining the lawsuit were the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), an Iowa high school student, two Iowa middle school teachers, an Iowa K-12 librarian, and bestselling young adult authors Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Jodi Picoult, and Malinda Lo. The lawsuit follows another announced Tuesday that t ..read more

Someone threatened to kill Percy Batista-Pedro when he was a freshman performing in the school play. Now a junior in high school in the Waterloo Community School District, Percy—a transgender student—said he feels like he has a target on his back because of an anti-LGBTQ+ law passed by Iowa Republicans this year and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. That’s why Percy, along with six other families, signed on to be a plaintiff in a new lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda Legal, a nonprofit civil right ..read more

University of Northern Iowa students rallied Wednesday at the Iowa Board of Regents meeting, protesting the possible removal of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives (DEI) at the state’s colleges. @iowastartingline University of Northern Iowa students rallied Wednesday at the Iowa Board of Regents meeting, protesting the possible removal of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives (DEI) at the state’s colleges. ♬ original sound – Iowa Starting Line The post VIDEO: UNI Students Rally for DEI first appeared on Iowa Starting Line ..read more

Turkey, mashed potatoes, some kind of casserole, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie: That’s the equation for a “traditional” Thanksgiving meal. But is it? Does it have to be? We asked the Iowa Starting Line audience—on Facebook and in the newsletter—how they break the traditional equation and bring some creativity and newness to their Thanksgiving tables. Here are some of their answers. By far, the answer with the most reactions was Darrin N Lesley Squire’s about setting up a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving meal for the kids alongside the traditional meal. Yes, that meant serving toast, popcorn, pretzel ..read more

Max Mowitz started the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund in 2021 because they saw a need they knew they could fill. “I was connected with so many mutual aid organizations that were doing incredible work, especially after the protests of 2020,” they said. “And I really saw a profound need for this kind of care and financial support for folks because, as we know, trans and non-binary people are disproportionately represented in homeless and houseless populations.” The fund provides financial aid for a variety of forms of gender affirming care. Mowitz listed hormone replacement therapy, surgery, therapy ..read more

Former President Donald Trump released a one-minute video blasting Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday, saying she “has gone from a popular governor to the most unpopular governor in the entire United States of America.” A recent poll from Morning Consult indicated that Reynolds was the most unpopular governor in America followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is challenging Trump in the Republican presidential primary. Trump, the GOP primary front-runner, has been attacking Reynolds at campaign events and on social media even before she officially endorsed DeSantis earlier this month. “Her e ..read more

The Dec. 5 run-off election in Waterloo will be a match-up between a progressive voice on the city council who fights for LGBTQ protections and one who “clearly doesn’t.” That’s according to Jonathan Grieder, the progressive voice in that race and the current Ward 2 representative on the Waterloo City Council. He gave up his seat this election to run for the citywide at-large seat this year. (Dave Boesen, the incumbent at-large councilor, successfully ran for Grieder’s Ward 2 seat unopposed.) Grieder went up against three others for that seat in the Nov. 7 election. None of the four candidates ..read more

 A Sioux City Republican activist was found guilty of 52 charges of voter fraud by a 12-person federal jury on Tuesday. According to federal court documents, Kim Phuong Taylor, 49, of Sioux City concocted various election schemes in 2020 to get her husband, Jeremy Taylor, elected, including voting on ballots herself for members of Sioux City’s Vietnamese community. Jeremy Taylor, a Republican, represents District 3 on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors. Kim Taylor, who was born in Vietnam, approached members of the Sioux City Vietnamese community and offered to help them vote. Some ..read more

Transgender Day of Remembrance, founded in 1999 and falling on every Nov. 20, has a straightforward goal of remembering and mourning the trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people who have died because of anti-trans violence and hatred. Max Mowitz, program director for One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, also sees it as an opportunity to have important conversations about how that hatred works, who it targets the most, and how to prevent it in the future. “Trans Day of Remembrance does something really important, which is that it grounds us in our current moment, and it grounds us in ..read more

Staff members for the nonpartisan Iowa board that oversees the integrity of political campaigns received numerous threats related to the city and school elections that took place earlier this month.  During Thursday’s Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board meeting, executive director and legal counsel Zach Goodrich noted the uptick in anger at him and staff coincided with the increased politicization of local elections. “We have received letters, emails, phone calls, voicemails that seek to intimidate, harass and, in some instances, outright threaten us,” Goodrich told the board. “Ther ..read more