Wisconsin
The Racine School District is considering a gender inclusion policy, the Journal Times reports:

The Racine Unified School District Tuesday unveiled a new policy for transgender and gender-nonconforming students and their use of school bathrooms and locker rooms.
The policy also provides for parents — and students of legal age — to officially request district staff to address them by a different name or pronoun, among other new rules and protections.
Under the new policy, which administrators say is already the de-facto practice in schools, students who are uncomfortable using facilities of the gender which they were born can request to use private facilities.
“So basically a student can ask to use a private restroom if they’re not comfortable in their biological gender bathroom or athletic locker room … they can have a separate space if they’re not comfortable changing in a space with same biological gender students,” said district Superintendent Lolli Haws at a School Board work session Monday night.

The controversy in Mount Horeb over the reading of a book by transgender youth icon Jazz Jennings has sent ripples across the county as communities gather to learn more about transgender youth:

Shortly after 14-year-old Jazz Jennings co-authored the book, I Am Jazz, TLC picked up the rights to adapt the book and the lives of the Jennings family for television. Now, the story of Jazz Jennings’ life, her struggles and experiences, are available for the world to see. While the transgender teenager has achieved a measure of celebrity and, as such, has experienced the dark, ugly side of humanity, she has also been held up as a role model and an example to other teens trying to understand their own non-traditional gender identities.
Wisconsin transphobia stirs a surprising reaction to I Am Jazz readings
Over 24 school districts across eight states hosted readings of I Am Jazz this past Thursday in response to the intolerance of Mount Horeb parents. The readings weren’t just restricted to schools, either. Readings were held at community centers and churches as well.

The Human Rights Campaign notes some of the communities that are doing readings of I am Jazz:

After legal threats by an anti-LGBT hate group forced a school in Mount Horeb, WI, to cancel plans last month to support a transgender student by reading “I Am Jazz,” a book by transgender teen and HRC Youth Ambassador Jazz Jennings, more than 600 residents showed up at a public reading organized by a parent to show the six-year-old and her family that the community respects and cares for them.
Days later, the school board adopted measures to fully accommodate transgender students. Said one board member: “We will not be intimidated, and we will teach tolerance and will be accepting to everyone.”
Today, inspired by Mount Horeb’s unequivocal repudiation of the Liberty Counsel’s bigotry and censorship, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program and youth advocates across the country are hosting readings of “I Am Jazz” in more than two dozen schools, churches and community centers in eight states — from Tacoma, WA, to North St. Paul, MN; and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, to Washington, D.C.
Jessica Herthel, co-author of “I Am Jazz”, is hosting a reading at a library in Orange County, CA, and Debi Jackson, the loving mom of a transgender daughter, is hosting one in a Kansas City, MO, church.
“Mount Horeb parents and school leaders acted with courage and showed that love, indeed, conquers hate,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training. “Today, in communities across the country, people are standing up and supporting the full humanity of transgender children and youth by lifting up the values of respect, compassion and love. They are helping all of our children thrive, and become better human beings for a better tomorrow.”

Chicagoland librarians have uncovered the story of a gay couple from the 1930s who saved a small Wisconsin town from financial ruin. They’ve created a play based on their story, the Chicago Tribune reports:

Playwriting and honeymooning: Generally speaking, they’re two entirely separate activities. But for Evanston librarians Rick Kinnebrew and Martha Meyer, a post-wedding trip to Wisconsin sparked the creation of “Ten Dollar House,” a true tale of love, architecture and the unlikely salvation of a dying town.
Running through Jan. 31 at Piccolo Theatre, Pride Films & Plays’ production of “Ten Dollar House,” delves into the story of Robert Neal, Edgar Hellum and a partnership that turned Mineral Point, Wis. from a dead-end nowheresville into a thriving community.
“When you take the historical tour at Mineral Point, you hear all about Bob and Edgar and the work they did in the 1930s, when the town was basically dying,” says Meyer. “They bought buildings, renovated them, opened a restaurant, and gave people jobs. Without them, the town probably would have just disappeared.”
“But a huge part of their story isn’t really publicized that much,” adds Kinnebrew. “Bob and Edgar were two gay men, living together at a time when gay marriage wasn’t even an idea, much less legal. They were partners in a committed relationship who thrived in this tiny, conservative town. They were revolutionaries, hiding in plain sight.”
Meyer and Kinnebrew had never heard of Hellum and Neal when they travelled to Spring Green, Wis. in 2009. The trip was to celebrate their wedding; their itinerary included tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin estate and a production of “The Winter’s Tale” at the acclaimed American Players Theatre. It was random intermission chit-chat that brought Mineral Point to their attention. “Someone mentioned that if we liked the Wright tour, we should check out Mineral Point, and look into the story there,” recalls Meyer.

Iowa
Iowa Episcopalians react to the decision by the Anglican Church to suspend the American church for supporting same-sex couples, KCCI reports:

The Episcopal Church faced a suspension Thursday for its stance on same-sex marriage.
Iowa’s Bishop Allen Scarfe told KCCI outside St. Paul’s Cathedral downtown it means “real pain” for many church members.

In June Episcopalians voted to change church law, allowing same-sex marriage and adopting new wedding rights to be used by gay or straight couples.

The Anglican Communion in England handed down Thursday a suspension in response.
“Continual pain for those who are gay and lesbian, especially those who are members of our church, but those in the community at large,” Scarfe said. “How much more do they have to suffer from discrimination?”
For three years, the Episcopal Church will not be allowed to participate in many internal decisions or represent Anglicans in meetings with other faith-based groups.

Republican lawmakers are continuing their witch hunt of a LGBT conference held last year, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports:

A legislative oversight panel will take a bipartisan approach to investigating a conference for gay and transgender youth, the panel’s chairman said Thursday.
Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who leads the House Government Oversight Committee, on Tuesday appointed two legislators each to four issues he expects the committee to investigate during the legislative session.
Among the subjects is the Iowa Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth, which is put on annually by the nonprofit advocacy group Iowa Safe Schools and is designed to inform high-school students about issues related to gay and transgender youth.

The Advocate writes about the changing anti-LGBT culture in the Iowa Republican caucuses:

In case you missed it, the presidential campaign is underway and we are just a few weeks away from the first votes being cast in the Iowa caucuses. The outcome of the Republican race there will be more consequential than any other time in recent history.
It used to be that the older, white, straight, evangelical Christian, culturally conservative voters, who make up over 60 percent of the Iowa GOP caucus voters, helped the most conservative candidates gain momentum and force more moderate candidates to the right. Then the more moderate “establishment” candidates moved to the middle to appeal to mainstream voters in other early states and the general election. Things are different than they used to be and there here’s why.

North Dakota
An LGBT rights advocate has thrown his hat into the ring for governor of North Dakota, the Grand Forks Herald reports:

Doug Burgum, whose varied career has included business consultant, software executive and downtown developer, is making his first foray into statewide politics as a candidate for governor.
“I know I have the ability to change the trajectory of this state,” Burgum said in Fargo Thursday as he kicked off his bid for the Republican nomination for North Dakota governor.
As a business leader, Burgum has been an outspoken advocate of ending North Dakota’s ban on gay marriage, which he said was alienating talent.
Although well known in and around Fargo, Burgum will have to introduce himself to statewide voters, especially in the west, where he is not as well known. He does, however, own a ranch in the Badlands of southwestern North Dakota.
In speaking to reporters, Burgum acknowledged the need to become known with voters, and said that’s why his announcement speech delved so much into his personal story–pointing out along the way that he is a lifelong Republican, and that he consulted with recent GOP governors, including Dalrymple, Ed Schafer and John Hoeven, who in 2009 made Burgum a recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, North Dakota’s highest honor.