Iowa
Iowa City will be host to Iowa’s only LGBTQ publication, Press Pass Q reports:
GoGUIDE, a free LGBT publication based in Iowa City, will launch in September. The new publication will cover topics such as local and national news, the arts, and local politics.
The first issue of GoGUIDE will be the “Back to School: University & College Edition.” The magazine will print quarterly with an anticipated print run of 5,000 copies. It will be printed on glossy stock and will be full-color throughout.
The web site, goguideiowacity.us, will also launch in September.
The publication and web site will offer “coverage with a twist,” promises Tim Nedoba, the president and director of sales and marketing for Reach Out Marketing, the company which will publish GoGUIDE.
“The twist will manifest itself in many forms,” Nedoba said. “Every issue will have a different theme. The next issue may have a totally different perspective. It will always have different contributors. It will be interactive. It will encourage discussions.”
In addition, Nedoba also plans to develop partnerships between advertisers and readers. “It will always be local. It won’t be static. It will always be evolving.”
A transgender nurse at a prison in Iowa is suing the state over discrimination after prison officials refused her to shower after being exposed to pepper spray among other allegations, Gay Star News reports:
A trans nurse working in a prison hospital was left unable to shower after being covered with pepper spray – because he wasn’t able to use the same bathroom as his colleagues.
Jesse Vroegh’s request to use the right bathroom had been turned down because it was ‘too controversial’.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
The transgender nurse says the discrimination is even worse because it was carried out by the state of Iowa itself.
It happened at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) where Vroegh has been a staff nurse for seven years.
He announced he was transitioning and living full-time as male, as part of his treatment for gender dysphoria and related depression and anxiety.
But Voregh said his employer refused to allow him to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching his gender identity.
‘In this country and in Iowa, everyone should be treated fairly in the workplace — especially when your employer is the state,’ Vroegh said in a statement.
‘Rather than setting a good example for other Iowa employers, the state has denied me the use of gendered spaces as well as the health insurance coverage I need, simply because I am transgender.
North Dakota
A bar in Williston that was considering becoming a gay bar has backtracked, the Fargo Forum reports:
Initially after the city’s decision was made, an attorney for Heartbreakers said the club planned to consider reopening as a bar that catered to the LGBT community.
However, the bar management has since decided against catering to any specific demographic, Dubie said.
“All are welcome here,” Dubie said.
Wisconsin
A researcher at the University of Wisconsin has filed a complaint against the school’s insurer alleging anti-transgender discrimination in health care coverage, CBS 58 reports:
A state employee has filed a discrimination complaint because coverage for a gender confirmation surgery was denied.
The ACLU of Wisconsin filed a discrimination complaint today with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Dr. Shannon Andrews, a cancer researcher at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, against the Medical School, the Group Insurance Board, and WPS Insurance.
The state’s employee health plans specifically exclude coverage of “procedures, services, and supplies related to surgery and sex hormones associated with gender reassignment.”
The ACLU argues this policy denies these individuals equal coverage of medically necessary treatment because of their sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“Notwithstanding the medical community’s agreement about the medical necessity of treatment for some transgender individuals, many employers continue to offer health insurance coverage that specifically targets transgender people and denies them coverage for life-saving medical care,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Legal Director Larry Dupuis. “These exclusions arbitrarily target transgender people for discrimination by forcing them to pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary services.”