Wisconsin
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an in-depth piece on changes for transgender veterans in Wisconsin and around the country:

When Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed in 2011, gay, lesbian and bisexual military members were allowed to serve openly. But not transgender troops, who continued to risk getting tossed out of the military. That’s because Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell addressed sexual orientation, not gender identity. And the military’s policy toward transgender troops was to consider gender dysphoria, the scientific term for people who identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth, as a psychosexual disorder.

But that, too, is changing.

Wisconsin Public Radio took a look at a study on “gaydar” by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

The slang term “gaydar” is the alleged ability to discern if someone is straight or gay. But a new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and published in the Journal of Sex Research shows gaydar is fueled by stereotypes, and not a sixth sense.

UW-Madison psychology researcher William Cox took a set of participants and divided them into three groups. One was told that gaydar is real, another was told it’s fake, and a third was told nothing about gaydar. Partipants were then shown pictures of gay and straight men randomly paired with statements.

A Milwaukee bus driver was fired last week after an altercation involving members of the LGBT community, FOX 6 reports:

“They were gay, young gay males,” said Cashmere.
Cashmere says the men outside got on the bus — and the bus driver called them ‘sissies’ and other homophobic slurs. She says one of the men spit at the driver — and the driver spit back.
“They was spitting at each other for a minute. It was just nasty,” said Cashmere.
The fight got heated when the group got off the bus — and got physical in the street. At one point, the driver is seen throwing the bus’ garbage can at a person witnesses say is transgender.

Iowa
Republican candidates gathered at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s fall fundraising dinner in Des Moines last weekend to talk to conservative Christians. Mike Huckabee took a swipe at Obama’s openly gay nominee for the head of the Army — and rainbow Doritos — the Des Moines Register reports:

Huckabee, during his 20-minute appearance, railed against efforts to promote homosexuality, saying President Barack Obama chose his U.S. secretary of the Army “based on homosexuality, not based on military capability.”
Huckabee, who won the GOP caucuses in 2008, blasted the Frito-Lay corporation for marketing “a special package of Doritos specifically for the gay community in order to give profits to one of the most violent, vicious and vulgar individuals in an organization I’ve ever met, who has suggested that people like Rick Santorum, Ben Carson and me should all have violent things done to us.”

Huckabee was alluding to the It Gets Better project, a campaign that aims to support LGBT youth at risk for suicide. It was launched by writer and speaker Dan Savage.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton was in Cedar Falls to talk about combating sexual assault, particularly against transgender people, the Washington Blade reports:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton struck an LGBT-inclusive tone on Monday in a speech against sexual assault on college campuses. During a “Women for Hilary” event at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Clinton articulated her plan to combat sexual assault, which has become a high-profile issue for Democrats amid reports an estimated one-in-five women say they experienced it in college.

Clinton, who vowed to build on the Obama administration’s work and ensure every campus offers support to victims, said the problem isn’t limited to straight women, pointing out sexual assault is a particular problem for transgender people.

Laverne Cox, transgender activist and star of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, will be in Cedar Falls next spring, KCCI reports:

Cox will talk at the university’s Center for Multicultural Education at 7:30 p.m. on April 13, 2016, in the Great Hall of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

School officials said, “Cox is a renowned speaker and will be bringing her empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically to UNI.”

Admission to the event is free, but tickets are required.

South Dakota
Brookings was named the safest college town in the country, in part because of the city’s relationship with the LGBT community, KELO reports:

Brookings was recently named the safest college town in America, according to SafeWise. In addition, Brookings was ranked 12th in the firm’s list of the “100 Safest Cities in America.”SafeWise, a security firm, cited SDSU’s implementation of a behavioral intervention team that addresses potential threats to the community incidental to town-gown relations. SafeWise added, that, with an ever-changing population of young people, the Brookings Police Department leads the way in community outreach by featuring initiatives like the LGBT Liaison that foster trust and cooperation with young adults and older community members alike.SafeWise security experts evaluated the most recent FBI crime statistics available.