Just the 'Alerts'

UPDATE: On February 28, 2013, testimony was completed on our HIV criminalization reform bill SF215. Senators Janet Petersen (D), Steven Sodders (D) and Charles Schneider (R) ALL signed in support of the bill. It is now ready to move forward to the full Judiciary Committee. This is good news!

Posted February 27, 2013:
Our legislators are busy! We have two big pieces of legislation moving forward and we need you to take action TODAY. We need you to take five minutes to send an email or make a phone call to your state Senators and Representatives.

Here's what's going on:

On Monday, 18 Iowa Senate Republicans introduced a marriage ban in the Senate. Senate Joint Resolution 5 would exclude loving and committed gay and lesbian couples from the freedom to marry in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reported on the story saying:

Eighteen Republicans in the Iowa Senate are sponsoring a newly introduced resolution that would authorize a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage, a sign GOP lawmakers aren’t giving up on the issue.

One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing responded by defending our families and condemning this resolution. Because, after nearly four years of marriage in Iowa, we know Iowa is a BETTER place when all families are recognized, supported, and valued by their state. While these 18 Senators continue to play politics with our lives and our families, the other 32 Senators understand that a majority of Iowans don't support a marriage ban passing through the Legislature.

Please make a $50 donation TODAY to support One Iowa's work to fight back against legislative attacks like SJR5.

We have also received word that our HIV Criminalization Reform bill has been introduced in the House as HF 320, while the Senate is considering their version of the bill SF 215. The Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing the bill TOMORRW at 11:30, so we need you to take action today and let your Senators and Representatives know that you support reforming the law. The current law says having sex while HIV-positive, regardless of whether or not the virus is transmitted, is a class B felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison and lifetime registration in the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. This law is unfair and unjust. Click here for a fact sheet about HIV Criminalization in Iowa.

Here's what we need you to do this week: 

Call your Senators

The Senate switchboard phone number is 515-281-3371. Call today or tomorrow between 9 am and 3 pm, and remember, Senators are out on Fridays! Click here to find your Senator. Or, if you prefer to email your legislator, click here.

When you call, ask if your Senator was one of the 18 who signed onto the marriage ban. Here's a few talking points to get you started:

• The introduction of SJR5 is political grandstanding and is shameful. Our families deserve better than to be used by a few Senators as political pawns.
• We don't support the passage of any marriage ban. Our legislators should be focusing on creating jobs, strengthening our economy, and making our schools better, not spending time passing legislation that hurts families.
• If your Senator didn't support SJR5: Thank you for representing ALL Iowa families. {SHARE YOUR STORY}
• If your Senator did support SJR5: Ask them to remember that a majority of Iowans do not support the legislature taking action on this. Remind them that LGBT people are our coworkers, our friends, our family members, our spouses. Share your story and ask them to focus on the issues that matter to Iowans: jobs, the economy, and education.

When you call, also ask your Senator to support SF 215. Here are a few talking points to get you started:

• This law unfairly singles out people living with HIV for criminal prosecution and severe punishment, even if they have no intention to harm anyone and no harm (i.e., no transmission) occurs.
• This law discourages testing and disclosure, because of the severe penalties associated with simply knowing your status and being intimate with someone. The current law reads that if the person knows his or her HIV status is positive, they risk criminal prosecution.
• Please support the reform of Iowa HIV Criminalization Law and support SF 215! The bill will be heard tomorrow in the Senate Judiciary Committee at 11:30.
• For a One Iowa fact sheet, click here.

Call your Representatives

The House switchboard phone number is 515-281-3221. Call today or tomorrow between 9 am and 3 pm, and remember, Representatives are out on Fridays! Click here to find your Representative. Or, if you prefer to email your legislator, click here.

When you call, ask your Representative to support HF 320. Here are a few talking points to get you started:

• This law unfairly singles out people living with HIV for criminal prosecution and severe punishment, even if they have no intention to harm anyone and no harm (i.e., no transmission) occurs.
• This law discourages testing and disclosure, because of the severe penalties associated with simply knowing your status and being intimate with someone. The current law reads that if the person knows their HIV status is positive, they risk criminal prosecution.
• Please support the reform of Iowa HIV Criminalization Law and support HF 320! The bill will be heard first in the House Public Safety subcommittee.
• For a One Iowa fact sheet, click here.

This work takes time and resources, will you donate $50 today to support our crucial legislative work?

I hope you'll take the time and make the call. Our legislators need to hear from us.

Thank you,
Donna Red Wing
One Iowa Executive Director

Already surviving rape from her home country, Esmeralda was seeking asylum in the U.S. attempting to escape from further persecution. Esmeralda, a transgender woman, was forced to perform oral sex on an immigration official while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Instead of fleeing to safety, Esmeralda arrived in the U.S. only to face more sexual abuse and violence.

Tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Secretary Napolitano that rape in their facilities is wrong.

Despite Esmeralda's attacker being arrested, Esmeralda suffered from retaliation and often feared for her life. Thankfully, she is now a member of Just Detention International's Survivor Council working to end sexual abuse in detention.

Secretary Napolitano now has an opportunity to protect other LGBT people and people with intersex conditions from facing similar violence.

The Department of Homeland Security will soon issue standards to address this issue.The problem is the standards don't nearly go far enough, allowing some facilities to delay adoption of these regulations indefinitely. The standards also have weak regulations for searching and housing transgender detainees.

Send Secretary Napolitano a short letter explaining why she must address these flaws before she makes the standards permanent.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and people with intersex conditions are at heightened risk of sexual abuse. But sexual abuse is preventable if Secretary Napolitano and her agency work with advocacy groups like our colleagues at the National Center for Transgender Equality and Just Detention International to strengthen their standards.

Will you take five minutes to submit your comments? Together, we can send a clear message that inaction could only result in more cases of abuse and violence.

Thank you,

Donna Red Wing
One Iowa Executive Director

Special thanks to our friends at National Center for Transgender Equality and Just Detention International for their hard work and dedication in ending abuse. We hope you'll take action today.

Our website, www.oneiowa.org, will be down for maintenance starting at 8 pm on Thursday, December 27, and will be up again Friday, December 28. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thank you for your support.

To make an end-of-year donation, visit http://bit.ly/GOE2012.

We're all familiar with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But now it's time for Giving Tuesday, a time to spend money on something that really matters--like equality in Iowa!

What is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday is a day where people can support nonprofit organizations like One Iowa and help make the world a better place. By donating to One Iowa, you'll know that you helped make a difference this holiday season by protecting equality. But that's not all--you'll be able to share your support of One Iowa with your friends and family on social media.

After you make your contribution to One Iowa, we want you to post a photo of yourself with a special note about why you gave, and include the hashtag #GivingTuesday. For example, here's a note our New Media Coordinator Matty Smith posted:

Then using social media, post your photo for everybody to see. You can also share your photo on One Iowa's Facebook page, or tag us on Twitter or Instagram using the handle @OneIowa and the hashtag #GivingTuesday. Or, you can email your photo to matty@oneiowa.org and we'll share it via social media for you.

So what are you waiting for?

Donate now, take a photo, and get involved in Giving Tuesday!

We woke up to some amazing news this morning. We now know that equality is the big winner last night and that our movement for progress has taken a few GIANT leaps forward. Click here to read One Iowa's official statement in response to our victories at the ballot.

Before today, marriage equality had never won a statewide public vote, but all of that has changed! Yesterday, we saw an historic victory on ballot initiatives in Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota, and we are rooting for our friends in Washington State. Voters have overwhelmingly stood up for equality and have truly made history. We are confident that Washingtonians will join their friends in Maryland, Maine and Minnesota in standing up for equality.

Congratulations to the gay and lesbian couples in Maine and Maryland who will soon be able to marry the person they love, to make a lifetime promise in front of their loved ones to honor and protect their families, a commitment that will be recognized by their states. And, our friends in Minnesota understood that the proposed amendment to their state Constitution was just plain wrong and would send a message to some Minnesotans that their very lives are less equal. Congratulations to our neighbors to the north!

Justice Wiggins withstood the attacks by anti-equality forces in this state and was retained by the voters. With the retention of Justice Wiggins, we sent a strong message to Mr. Vander Plaats and his friends at the National Organization for Marriage: Iowans are proud of our state that values equal protection and all families.

The reelection of President Obama, the first sitting president to support the freedom to marry, speaks to the momentum for marriage among American voters. Thank you President Obama for standing up for equality!

But wait! There's more!

Yesterday, Iowa voters sent a pro-equality majority in the Iowa Senate back to work. We thank Iowa voters for their commitment to electing a State Senate that values all families. Here at One Iowa, we are celebrating a victory by Senator Mike Gronstal in Council Bluffs who has put his career on the line in defense of marriage for all loving and committed couples and has led Iowa in the right direction. With his reelection, voters sent a clear message that Iowans stood up for Senator Granstal because he stood up for Iowa families. We look forward to working with Senator Gronstal and the pro-equality majority in the upcoming legislative session on the issues that matter most to Iowa families.

Wisconsin elected the first openly LGBT candidate to the United States Senate when they chose Tammy Baldwin. We know from the overwhelming support on social media that her victory is as profound for all of you as it is to us. We also saw some incredible victories for pro-equality candidates who will now represent their constituents--ALL of their constituents in Congress.

So let's recap:

• Yesterday, we saw an historic victory on ballot initiatives in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and very likely Washington.
• Justice Wiggins withstood the attacks by anti-equality forces in this state and was retained by the voters.
• The reelection of President Obama, the first sitting president to support the freedom to marry, speaks to the momentum for marriage among American voters.
• Yesterday, Iowa voters sent a pro-equality majority in the Iowa Senate back to work. Here at One Iowa, we are celebrating a victory by Senator Mike Gronstal in Council Bluffs.
• Wisconsin elected the first openly LGBT candidate to the United States Senate when they chose Tammy Baldwin.

So there is just one thing left to say: thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

While there is so much more work to do, today let's celebrate our hard-fought and hard-earned victories across the country.

Voters have made it clear that equality is an American and an Iowan value. The momentum for equality is undeniable.

Congratulations,

Donna Red Wing, One Iowa Executive Director

I first met Donald almost twenty years ago. He became a great friend and mentor, always challenging me to be better and to do better. We worked together at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), at the Gill Foundation, and at Grassroots Leadership. That we were friends and colleagues in our great movement for equality together cemented our bond.

When he passed in October of 2012, Jeremy/Lila, Donald’s life-partner, asked if there was anything that One Iowa was working on that inspired Donald, that his friends might contribute towards in his honor. And I reflected on our recent work together.

This summer we began planning a strategy for the One Iowa Education Fund, One Iowa’s public education campaign dedicated to educating Iowans and Midwesterners about the realities of LGBTQ people and our families. We had discussed intentionally and strategically working at the intersections of the LGBTQ communities and communities of color as we continued to work towards full equality in the Heartland.

In his honor, please consider a donation to the Donald Suggs Legacy Fund, which would help to fund our work with communities of color in the Midwest. It is work we planned together. And it is work that I promise to deliver, guided by Donald’s generous heart, his grace and his vision.

Thank you so much.

To make a donation to the Donald Suggs Legacy Fund, please click here.

Donna Red Wing
One Iowa Executive Director