Wisconsin
Voter identification laws may disenfranchise more than 1,000 transgender voters in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Gazette reports:

Analysis suggests more than 1,000 transgender voters in Wisconsin may not be able to cast ballots on Election Day this November.
Wisconsin is home to an estimated 8,000 transgender people eligible to vote, but more than 1,000 of them — about 15 percent — lack accurate IDs for voting, according to Jody L. Herman, a scholar at the Williams Institute think tank at the UCLA School of Law.
Herman is the author of a new study, “The Potential Impact of Voter Identification Laws on Transgender Voters in the 2016 General Election,” which examined the impact of voter IDs in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Herman concluded about 112,000 transgender people who have transitioned are eligible to vote in these states, but 34,000 of them may face barriers to voting due to strict ID laws.
“Lawmakers and election officials should not overlook the impact on transgender voters when enacting voting restrictions based on identity documents,” Herman said. “Voter ID laws impact many citizens who would otherwise be eligible to vote. Transgender people have unique and sometimes insurmountable burdens to obtaining accurate IDs for voting in states that require it.”

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point held a forum on transgender issues, the Stevens Point Journal reports:

BobbieJoy Amman owned her own business when she came out as a transgender female.
Amman, a local transgender advocate, spoke Tuesday at an equality conference in Stevens Point about how employers can make their businesses friendly to people who identify as transgender or any other part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Amman owns a disc jockey company called Jock in a Box; she also hosts a transgender support group in Stevens Point.
This year’s conference marked the first of its kind for the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, which has 470 members across the state. The conference took place Tuesday afternoon at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, where about 20 people gathered to discuss how employers can ensure equality for the LGBT community in their businesses — both in terms of hiring and clientele.
Amman focused her session on how to make a business inclusive for transgender employees. She encouraged employers not to fear hiring transgender applicants and to institute policies that ensure respect for all employees.
“Sometimes transgender people might be overlooked in the hiring process,” she said in an interview with a reporter before her talk.

South Dakota
The Dakota Baptist Convention met in Bismarck in late-September. The group voted to maintain it’s stance that “homosexual behavior” is a sin that cannot be accepted, the Baptist Press News reports:

Dakota Baptist messengers have approved partnering in disaster relief with Southern Baptists of neighboring states in 2017 in an effort to extend the Dakotas’ relief efforts nationwide.
During the 2016 Dakota Baptist Convention’s (DBC) annual meeting held Sept. 22–23 at the Ramada Inn in Bismarck, S.D., 56 messengers also approved an increased budget, elected officers and adopted two resolutions, one relating to this year’s U.S. elections and the other to the sin of homosexuality.

In a resolution on homosexual behavior, messengers “unequivocally” stated “that homosexual behavior is a sin for which Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross.” The resolution declared that since “homosexual behavior is not a lifestyle, but a sin that cannot be accepted by Christian brothers,” then the church cannot accept same-sex marriage. The resolution affirms that those who practice homosexual behavior can be forgiven “like all sinners can,” and “can receive forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and be transformed by the power of the gospel.”

Iowa
Buena Vista University held a panel discussion on LGBTQ issues, the Spencer Daily Reporter reports:

“You have questions, we have answers.”
That was the promise of an LGBTQ+ open panel discussion with gay or transgender students and staff members at Buena Vista University Monday evening, coinciding with LGBTQ+ History Month.
“My closet is no different than yours,” a speaker said in an introductory video, comparing the process of hiding one’s sexuality with secreting impending bankruptcy or a failing relationship. “We all have things that are hard, we all have our closets — but a closet is no place to live.”
“If you do not throw that grenade, it will kill you.”
The BVU students and staff speaking out at the awareness event shared their own “coming out” stories, and echoed the sentiment that trying to keep the secret is unhealthy.

A longtime free speech and LGBTQ rights advocate dies last week, KCCI reports:

An Iowa man known for paving the way for free speech in a landmark U.S Supreme Court case has died.

Dan Johnston died this morning at a Des Moines hospice care center. Johnston was 78.
Those who knew Dan Johnston call him incredibly smart, sarcastic and a brilliant lawyer.
“I will miss about Dan his wit, his humor (and) his absolutely matter-of-fact way of saying it like it is,” said Veronica Fowler, with American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.
Johnston won the Tinker vs Des Moines schools case in 1969, forever changing free speech. He also served as Polk County attorney in the late 60s and early 70s and a state legislator for Des Moines.
Johnston is leaving behind a remarkable legacy by not only winning the huge U.S Supreme Court case but also for always fighting for the underdog.
“He was always for the underdog,” said Des Moines attorney Tom Whitney. “He was always in support of those who didn’t have a voice. He was an extremely bright and articulate man and he used those things in very good causes.”
There was also a secret Johnston kept from even his closest friends and family for most of his life — was gay at a time when that was not accepted.
“It’s wonderful to see him in the later part of his life be absolutely openly gay and very frank about it, and kinda do some of the advocacy work that he wasn’t able to do in the 60s and 70s,” Fowler said.
Johnston’s friends said his advocacy will be greatly missed.
“He was a real believer in the constitutional rights of all of us,” Whitney said. “I’m sorry. He’s gonna be missed.”

Iowa City scored at the top on LGBTQ equality, the Press Citizen reports:

For the third straight year, Iowa City has received a perfect rating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index — a study that measures municipal support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the country, gave Iowa City a perfect score of 100 for its LGBTQ-inclusive laws, policies, services and law enforcement programs, according to the annual report released last week. In 2015 and 2014, Iowa City also received a perfect score from the HRC.
Iowa City is one of 60 cities in the country to have achieved the perfect score in 2016’s Municipal Equality Index, which has been measuring the LGBTQ inclusiveness of cities across the country for the past five years. Iowa City, Davenport and Cedar Rapids were the only cities that achieved a perfect rating in Iowa, though Des Moines was close with a score of 97.
“We are honored to have earned a perfect score for the third consecutive year. The city works hard to be equitable, inclusive and to celebrate diversity,” Shannon McMahon, Iowa City communications coordinator and LGBT liaison for the city, said via email Thursday. “We hope this recognition shows our commitment to LGBTQ equality.”

Iowa State University held a forum on LGBTQ issues, the Iowa State Daily reports:

Four students let an audience into a world few students at Iowa State have stepped into.
To help inform Iowa State students of the LGBTQA+ community on campus, the LGBT Student Services hosted a discussion panel Wednesday in Morrill Hall that allowed the audience to ask numerous questions regarding the past, present and future experiences of transgender male and females at Iowa State.
The four student came together to share the experiences of their gender identities on campus. Each of the students expressed similar challenges and support system within their environments.
Kenni, junior in journalism and mass communication, was the first to mention Gamma Rho Lambda, the all-inclusive social sorority for LGBT and Ally community as the first support system they found on campus. Other panelists are also members of the sorority.
“When I first got to Iowa State, Gamma Rho Lambda wasn’t founded and was more of an all-inclusive women’s sorority, but it has certainly developed into a very all-welcoming community today,” said Hayden, a senior in architecture and president of Gammo Rho Lambda. “I have much support from the beautiful people in this chapter.”

A judge is allowing a lawsuit agains the Iowa Civil Rights Department by a church that claims the department is forcing it to be accomodating of LGBTQ people, the Catholic News Agency reports:

A church’s lawsuit may go forward because it reasonably feared that Iowa’s strict anti-discrimination law would create legal penalties for its preaching and for having single-sex bathrooms and showers, an Iowa court has ruled.
“The government acts outside of its authority when it attempts to control churches,” said Steve O’Ban, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. “Neither the commission nor any state law has the constitutional authority to dictate how any church uses its facility or what public statements a church can make concerning sexuality.”
O’Ban represented Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in U.S. district court. The church is suing based on fears the state’s anti-discrimination policy on gender identity and sexual orientation would make it legally liable for preaching and following its views on homosexuality and transgender issues – including having single-sex bathrooms.
Judge Stephanie Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa rejected state officials’ request to dismiss the church’s lawsuit Oct. 14. She agreed with the church that the law had a chilling effect on its speech.

Manitoba
There’s trouble in Winnipeg as the community brings its concerns to the Pride festival organizers, the CBC reports:

Pride Winnipeg has issued a public apology and planned eight months of changes leading up to their next festival following sharp criticism about exclusivity and exclusion by the organization.
In August, Levi Foy went to a Pride Winnipeg community forum and noticed a problem.
“It was the typical Pride folks — white, kind of upper-middle class gay men, lesbians. Not a lot of folks of colour, not a lot of folks of gender-variance,” said Foy, who runs Sunshine House’s Like That program, an LGBT night at a harm-reduction rec centre in Point Douglas. “There was an absence of folks that I usually associate with.”
Foy wasn’t alone. A number of groups, including Queerview and Winnipeg’s Queer People of Colour (QPOC), had raised concerns about who was being represented at Pride Winnipeg events and how.
So Foy invited the people planning those events to a meeting.

“Pride Winnipeg should not be commended for this. No accolades. We’re simply doing what we should have done a long time ago,” said Pride Winnipeg’s Michelle McHale. (CBC)
“People were really honest and really brave about their concerns with Pride; people not feeling that they’re reflected in Pride’s materials, not feeling that they can go to Pride’s events because … of discrimination, lots of judgment,” said Foy, adding transgender people and people who are gender-variant often didn’t feel comfortable attending if they didn’t “pass” as a particular gender.
Other issues included Pride’s advertising campaigns, its corporate structure and its accessibility, both for people with disabilities and people who couldn’t afford to go.
“They told us some things that were heartbreaking, in terms of feeling like Pride was a ‘party for the beautiful,’ and they didn’t see themselves in there,” said Michelle McHale, with Pride Winnipeg. “They didn’t feel like all body types were represented or that they even belonged.”