Iowa
The Des Moines Register continued its series on bring transgender in Iowa, with a look at transitioning in the workplace:

As the transgender community moves from the social margins into the mainstream, more transgender people are stepping out of the shadows to live as what they say are their authentic selves — including at the office. But the support Bierling experienced isn’t the norm for many transgender people coming out in the workplace. Instead, most face a “mixed landscape” of positive policies and rampant discrimination, said Deena Fidas, director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Workplace Equality Program, based in Washington, D.C.
“There are two disparate dynamics occurring at once for trans people,” she said. “We are seeing inclusive statutes and protocols put in place across corporate America, but we know that transgender people face conscious and unconscious biases in many aspects of the employment process, including facing disproportionate rates of unemployment and underemployment compared to their peers.”

The Register also revisited a series on transitioning in the workplace it did in the 1990s:

“Transformation begins” announced The Des Moines Register’s headline describing the transition of University of Iowa economics professor Donald McCloskey, who disclosed in the 1995 front-page article that “he” was becoming “she” and would henceforth be known as Deirdre.
Before the turn of the millennium, the Register would print nine more stories, most on Page 1, chronicling McCloskey’s transition. McCloskey, the first openly transgender professor at Iowa, said that despite the media spotlight, the pervasive reaction she received on campus and in academic circles was one of “Iowa calm.”
“Indeed, Iowa in general, Iowa the state, Iowa the journalists, Iowa the politicians, Iowa the academic administrators, Iowa the people, Iowa the students, they all acted very well,” she said during a recent interview at her Chicago apartment. McCloskey retired from teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the spring.

The Register also reported on the Iowa companies that scored on the Corporate Equality Index:

Iowa-based companies offer a mixed bag of policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, according to a study measuring LGBT inclusion in corporate culture from the Human Rights Campaign’s Workplace Equality Program.
Four of the five Iowa-based companies included in the 2016 edition of the annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) received perfect or near perfect scores, meaning they offer LGBT-friendly nondiscrimination policies, cultural competency trainings, diversity practices and community-specific engagement opportunities.
The fifth, Ankeny-based Casey’s General Stores, declined to participate in the study and netted a score of zero, based on publicly available information.

Iowa State recently screened “Her Story,” Iowa State Daily reports:

For Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the LGBTSS Center paired with several organizations to host a screening of the Emmy-nominated web series “Her Story.”
The screening was a two-part event. First, the series was projected and watched in its entirety. Second, a conversation was facilitated through cards the audience was invited to write their questions on.
Before the screening began, the audience was warned of possible triggering content in the series, including misgendering, transphobic language and domestic violence. Counseling also was made available to audience members who could have trouble navigating the series.
The screening centered around several characters. Primarily, these characters were Violet, a transgender woman portrayed by Jen Richards; Paige, a transgender woman of color portrayed by Angelica Ross; and Allie, a gay woman portrayed by Laura Zak.

The Daily Iowan takes a look at LGBTQ history at the University of Iowa:

When it comes to LGBTQ inclusivity, the University of Iowa is right on the frontier.
October is LGBTQ history month nationwide, and events are being held on campus all month long, with a particular week, Oct. 17-21, hosted by Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity, Gamma Rho Lambda Sorority, oSTEM, Spectrum UI and UI Trans Alliance.
A lecture about the history of the LGBTQ community in Iowa City will take place in Becker on Oct. 19.
“We realized as a collective community that we don’t really know a lot about the LGBT community of Iowa City and the University of Iowa,” said Hunter Gillaspie, vice president of the UI chapter of Delta Lambda Phi. “There are some really cool things that have happened here that a lot of people don’t know about. The University of Iowa is kind of a pioneer in ‘firsts,’ if you will, for human rights. The LGBT realm is no exception to that.”

North Dakota
Senate candidates in the Bismarck participated in a debate last week that included questions about nondiscrimination laws, the Bismarck Tribune reports:

When asked about whether he’d support legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, which was defeated last session, Dem-NPL Senate candidate Chris Rausch was staunchly in favor.
“I would relish the opportunity to vote in favor of a bill to ban discrimination,” Rausch said. “This is a huge issue for us.”
District 30 Rep. Diane Larson, who’s running for the Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Ron Carlisle, said no one should be discriminated against. She added that she’d voted against the bill in 2015 due to language relating not only to discrimination but also perceived discrimination, which she felt went too far.
“I would have to see the wording of the bill,” Larson said of any legislation next session, which she said was the reason she voted against it.

NDSU Spectrum preview resourced for LGBTQ students:

Although same-sex marriage has only been legal in North Dakota for just over a year, North Dakota State has had a club supporting the LGBTQ+ movement for over ten years.
Pride Alliance is a undergraduate student organization which aims to strengthen and sustain an inclusive campus community by creating a safe place for undergraduate students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning. The group presently has about 20 active members.
Resources available for members of this organization are the semester activities that are held to help these students make connections and meet other members, a quiet space to study within the Office of Gender and Sexual Diversity and also books addressing any questions they might have about sexual orientation.
NDSU also has an organization for graduate students that identify as LGBTQ+ called Grad Prism. Grad Prism currently has about ten members Andrea Wagner, graduate assistant for GSD said.
LGBTQ+ pride month is October, with National Coming-Out Day being Tuesday. These organizations are hosting a panel event where people will tell their personal coming-out stories to commemorate the month. Another event commemorating the month will be Retro Game Night on Oct. 19. Both events are free and open to the NDSU community.
Gender and Sexual Diversity will present a quilt built of squares hand crafted by individuals who support and are apart of the LGBTQ+ community at the end of October.
“The quilt that we currently have is about ten years old, so we are excited to see how the new one will turn out,” Wagner said.

South Dakota
The Volante reported on LGBTQ History Month at the University of South Dakota:

October is LGBTQ+ History Month, and the University of South Dakota celebrated with the annual fall drag show Monday night, as well as other events around campus.
Spectrum: Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosted the fall drag show Monday night in the Muenster University Center Ballroom. The show featured 21 acts from performers, including Spectrum’s president, Nate Keane.
During LGBTQ+ History Month, Spectrum provides educational videos at their meetings, such as “Stonewall,” a presentation provided by the Center for Diversity & Community, “Expressions of Identity Workshop: Sexuality” and a presentation in the MUC Pit Lounge for National Coming Out Day. Keane also said some members from Spectrum are attending an event in Chicago this month, called MBGLTACC.
Vice president of Spectrum, Kyle Jones, said that Spectrum does its “best to inform” about LGBTQ+ history.
“These events help LGBT youth around campus who might not be comfortable with their gender identity or sexual identity just yet,” Jones said. “We need that history, that culture of where we stem from. The history of being LGBT in this community, whether by choice to not, it’s wonderful to know people have done these amazing things so that I can live the way I do now.”

Wisconsin
Right-wing news outlet Heat Street notes that several Wisconsin schools have instituted gender neutral homecoming courts:

Four colleges in the University of Wisconsin System have decided to make their homecoming royalty court gender-neutral, Heat Street has learned.
This year marks a tipping point in the number of UW homecomings altered to accommodate transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
When UW-Stout’s 125th homecoming court was announced this weekend, recipients were honored with a “Spirit Award,” instead of being crowned king or queen. In past years, gender-nonconforming students have run for the court, choosing what gendered title they’d like to seek, but this year, the college has explicitly decided to go neutral.
“It’s a chance to make sure neither our program nor our participants felt limited by having a gender-specific pair,” says Emily Ascher, the campus activities coordinator. She added that the switch has also allowed UW-Stout to expand its homecoming court.