Opinions
Zach Wahls, the future of Iowa and America
We should help him win a seat in the Iowa State Senate


Zach Wahls (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The Democratic Party needs to cultivate and support the next generations of leaders and one our most promising is Zach Wahls, an amazing young man, decent and honest, with an unlimited future.
Zach is a Democratic candidate for Iowaās Senate District 37. Many will remember him from when he first gained national attention with his testimony before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee about growing up with gay parents. A video of that testimony went viral. Zach went on to be co-founder of Scouts for Equality, the successful national campaign to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ boys and leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. Zach is an Eagle Scout; he authored the bestselling book āMy Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength and What Makes a Family;ā and recently he and his sister created The Woman Cards, a deck of playing cards featuring 15 original, hand-drawn portraits of American women who changed the world.
A longtime resident of the Senate district, Zach is a graduate of Iowa City West High School and the University of Iowa, and will receive his masterās degree in public policy from Princeton Universityās Woodrow Wilson School this spring.
Zach is running on a platform of issues crucial to Iowans. Not surprisingly they are issues crucial to all Americans including healthcare, education and workersā rights. Zach is running to do something about the mental health crisis in Iowa, which currently has only 64 public psychiatric beds for the entire state. He understands Iowa has an opioid epidemic and will fight to see more is done at every level of government to fight back proactively taking steps to turn this epidemic around. Zach recognizes Iowa is facing a Medicaid disaster and the Republican privatization of Medicaid is the cause.
When it comes to education, Zach has said, āIowaās public education system transforms children into citizens and is supposed to make sure that every Iowan has the chance to pursue the American Dream.ā He will fight continued Republican funding cuts to both the K-12 growth rate and their slashing of tens of millions of dollars from Iowaās higher education system. He believes in innovative education and exploring new approaches to innovation for the 21st century economy. He will fight for universal pre-K education; programs that will ensure college readiness for all Iowa high school graduates; and affordable tuition so any Iowa high school graduate can afford to attend college. Zach is opposed to voucher programs and other attempts to privatize Iowaās public schoolĀ system which would shortchange Iowa teachers and students. He has said, āWe have a moral responsibility to make public education betterĀ and more accessible.ā
When it comes to workerās rights Zach understands Iowaās economy āis fundamentally broken for many, many people.ā He will fight for collective bargaining justice and fight against the continued efforts by Republicans to gut collective bargaining rights for state workers in Iowa. He will fight for a living wage for all workers. He will fight Republican efforts to roll back increases in the minimum wage as they did when they specifically targeted Johnson County and passed a law to roll back the countyās minimum wage increase. Zach sees that as only the latest example of Republicans supporting ālocal controlā only when they like whatās happening. He will fight to reverse that law and to continue to increase wages as the cost of living goes up.
Zach Wahls understands the issues facing Iowans and the issues facing our country. He believes in equality and is willing to fight for it. He believes in social justice and is willing to fight for it. He believes all Americans deserve affordable healthcare and a living wage and is willing to fight for them. Everyone needs to help Zach Wahls in his fight for a seat in the Iowa State Senate because young people like Zach are not only the future of Iowa, they are the future of America.
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

We have come a long way from the days when HIV was an almost certain death sentence. But our work is far from over. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an uptick in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, and low-income communities, LGBTQ+ communities, and communities of color continue to be impacted at alarming and disproportionately high rates.
These communities are also more likely to be served by Medicaid. Medicaid is the largest source of insurance coverage for people living with HIV in the United States, covering an estimated 40 percent of nonelderly adults with HIV, and Medicaid accounted for 45 percent of all federal HIV spending in 2022. During September, Sexual Health Awareness Month, it is worth examining the crucial ways Medicaid works to keep people healthy ā and what threatens our progress today.
In recent weeks, we have seen a troubling trend develop. Five million Americans have been removed from Medicaid rolls, and many millions more are on the verge of losing coverage as a result of the Medicaid enrollment cuts. This represents the single greatest threat to our progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in years.
During the pandemic, Medicaid enrollment grew by an estimated 20 million people, contributing to the uninsured rate dropping to the lowest level on record in early 2022. But, after a three-year period during which states provided continuous enrollment in exchange for enhanced federal funding, some states resumed dis-enrolling people from Medicaid on April 1. A recent KFF survey found that 17 million people could lose Medicaid coverage as a result of this process, referred to as the Medicaid āunwinding.ā
Many states are not doing enough to ensure that Medicaid-eligible residents don’t lose their coverage. While some have been removed from the rolls because they are newly ineligible, procedural issues account for 74 percent of people losing coverage. An unacceptably high number of Florida, Texas, and Virginia residents who are still eligible for Medicaid are losing coverage because of procedural reasons, such as failing to confirm proof of income or household size.
Our goal should be to ensure that no one who qualifies for Medicaid loses their coverage. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gave states the option to use a 12-month grace period, along with other flexibilities, to prepare for the unwinding and make sure residents had what they needed to recertify. So why are some states so eager to remove their residents from Medicaid rolls?
New York, on the other hand, has made equity a cornerstone of recertification work and provides a template for what states can do to help their residents remain covered. The state maximizes the flexibilities offered by CMS and works directly with providers, health plans, and recipients to minimize procedural disenrollments and ensure that people retain health care coverage, either through Medicaid, the stateās health exchange, or private insurance. New York is among the nationās top-performing states in terms of call center wait times, call drop rates, and average time it takes to make an eligibility determination, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. New Yorkās call center is also able to produce materials in 26 languages. In June 2023 alone, New York State certified renewals for more than 400,000 residents.
At Amida Care in New York, we know firsthand that gaps in care for people living with or placed at elevated risk of contracting HIV can be especially devastating. When people lose access to PrEP medication to prevent HIV, they are left vulnerable to contracting HIV, and when people living with HIV lose access to antiretroviral therapy, they risk becoming seriously ill and transmitting HIV to others. We support and guide our members through the recertification process with dedicated outreach efforts that include phone calls, mailings, text messages, and home visits to limit loss of coverage and interruptions in life-saving treatments.
We cannot begin to address health inequity or end the HIV epidemic without strengthening Medicaid. The recent moves by some states to strip their residents of Medicaid coverage will undermine the progress weāve made.
Doug Wirth is president and CEO of Amida Care, a Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan for people affected by HIV.
Opinions
Jann Wennerās racist, sexist take on musicians isnāt surprising
New book āThe Mastersā excludes Black, women pioneers

I enjoyed sharing my birthday with Bruce Springsteen, until I read the bigoted remarks made by his friend Jann Wenner in a recent New York Times interview.
Then I wasnāt so glad to have the same b-day as Bruce.
Springsteen didnāt make the comments. Iām a fan of his music. But, as I write this, Springsteen, as well as some of Wennerās other friends, hasnāt spoken out against Wennerās hurtful comments.
As the saying goes: Some gifts keep on giving. Wenner, who was removed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation board after making sexist and racist remarks in a Sept. 15 interview with the Times, keeps on giving. But whatās heās giving isnāt a gift. Not to Black people, women, music lovers, or queer folk.
Wennerās one of us. Heās gay.
Iām fine with his sexuality, but youād hope that Wenner, for decades a gatekeeper of music and culture, would be a source of queer pride. But, thatās not the case with Wenner, a co-founder of the Rock the Roll Hall of Fame.
The fallout from Wennerās Times interview is a needed wake-up call for queers.
Too often, we give ourselves a pass. We believe that because we live with homophobia, bi-erasure and transphobia, we know the score. That weāre not sexist, racist, ageist, ableist ā weāre free of prejudice. Paragons of virtue.
Wenner, with his demeaning comments, is, I hope, getting us (especially, we who are Boomers) to look in the mirror. To check ourselves (as we examine our dogs for ticks) for our own prejudices, and for our virtue-signaling.
The controversy around Wenner began when he sat for the interview with David Marchese of the Times on Sept. 15 to promote his new book āThe Masters,ā released by Little Brown and Company on Sept. 26.
āThe Mastersā is a compilation of seven interviews that Wenner conducted with acclaimed musicians who are (or were before their death) his friends: Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jerry Garcia, Bono, and Springsteen. All of the interviewees are white, male and Boomers.
āThat there are no women or Black musicians in this collection is obvious,ā Wenner writes, according to Kirkus Reviews, in āThe Masters.ā āThis is reflective of the prejudices and practices of the times.ā
Itās hard to describe how bigoted and absurd this is. As many have noted, rock ānā roll was invented by Black people.
You have to wonder what Wenner was thinking. Had he never heard of Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin? Stevie Wonder? Joni Mitchell? Madonna?
Though too much racism and sexism exist today, the culture has gotten somewhat better. Attitudes have evolved. Weāve become more aware of our biases.
Unfortunately, this isnāt so for Wenner. Marchese asked Wenner why every musician he talked with in āThe Mastersā is white and male. āInsofar as the women,ā Wenner responded, ājust none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.ā
When pressed by Marchese, who wondered how he could say Joni Mitchell wasnāt āarticulate enough,ā Wenner said, āJoni was not a philosopher of rock ānā roll.ā
āI mean, they just didnāt articulate at that level,ā Wenner said of Black musicians.
Reading the interview, I wondered if heād read Rolling Stone, the magazine he edited for decades. Had he missed the covers with Melissa Etheridge, Joplin, and Tina Turner (to name a few of the women and Black artists featured on the magazineās cover)?
Sadly, Wennerās condescending, racist and sexist take on Black and women musicians isnāt surprising. Often, people with power (rich white men) believe theyāre smarter, more talented, and more entitled to be cultural gatekeepers than those from marginalized groups. Theyāre convinced theyāre more talented and āarticulateā than those who donāt have power.
Forget āThe Masters.ā Check out Etheridgeās new memoir āTalking to My Angels.ā Thatās a good read.
Kathi Wolfe, a writer and a poet, is a regular contributor to the Blade.
Commentary
O’Shae Sibley’s murder is an attack on LGBTQ people and their expression, as both rise
More than 350 anti-LGBTQ attacks reported between June 2022 and July 2023

BY HENRY HICKS IVĀ | What do the banning of a childrenās picture book about two male penguins, white supremacist stand-offs outside of weekend brunches and a killingĀ during impromptu dancing at a gas station have in common? Plenty. Each impinges on the escalating trend of attacks on LGBTQ+ people and their right to free expression.Ā
On the evening of July 29, OāShae Sibley pulled into a Brooklyn gas station parking lot with his friends to fill up their gas tank. As they waited for the tank to fill, the group spilled from the car and used the moment to move joyfully in the hot summer night, cranking the car radioās volume and dancing together. Sibley, a gay man, was also a skilled professional dancer and choreographer. He displayed his talents this night, voguing to the sounds of BeyoncĆ©, an artist that Sibley and his friends were fans of. By coincidence, the artist was performing just a few miles away that night, with professional voguers joining her on stage.
Vogueing, a dance style born out of the traditionally queer ballroom scene, is known for its electrifying dips, drops and duckwalks. The style has been prominently featured in the Golden Globe-winning television showĀ “Pose” ā and, more recently, on stage in BeyoncĆ©ās all-consumingĀ Renaissance World Tour. The energy of the ballroom scene has spirited communities across the country, as BeyoncĆ©ās tour has touched down city-by-city, and Sibley and his friends were not exempt to this reach. He was, in fact, eager to participate in his artistry as someone known for his role as a dancer, choreographer, and active member of New Yorkās ballroom community.Ā
As he and his friends vogued to BeyoncĆ© in the parking lot, moves that Sibley was adept in as an artist himself, they grabbed the attention of hostile onlookers. As captured on surveillance footage, Sibley was first berated with homophobic slurs ā Sibleyās vogue performance seeming to signal his sexuality to his attacker. Shortly following the verbal assault, things turned violent. Sibley was stabbed and murdered in a tragic hate crime, fueled by homophobia and triggered by Sibleyās open expression as a dancer and artist.
In mourning, and in defiant protest in the days following, the New York City queer communityĀ Ā hosted a memorial at the site of his murder where they honored his memory through performance,Ā with a vibrant and resistant ball.Ā
āYou wonāt break my soul. / You wonāt break my soul, no, no. / Iām telling everybody,ā BeyoncĆ© sings defiantly in her single, āBreak My Soul.ā
The murder of OāShae Sibley was devastating ā and a signal of a disturbing trend. Increasing violence toward LGBTQ+ people, and attempts to quash their personal and artistic expression, are on the rise in the United States. Advocacy organizations such as GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League have reported surges in harassment, vandalism and physical violence against LGBTQ+ people ā with 356 instances being reported between June 2022 and April 2023. Transgender people, as well as drag performers, have been targeted at notably high rates. The Human Rights Campaign reported 34 murders of trans people ā mostly trans women of color ā in 2022 (HRC emphasizes that the actual number is likely higher, as most attacks go unreported, or are reported inaccurately.)
Drag shows across the country have faced threats and intimidation from armed protesters,Ā including the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys. Gay bars have been targeted by armed assailants, such asĀ the tragic massacre thatoccurredĀ at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., last November. Hospitals providing gender-affirming care to transgender youthĀ have been targeted with bomb threats. On Aug. 18, a California store ownerĀ was shot and killed for displaying a Pride flag. Harassment, threats of violence, and hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ communityĀ have steadily risen in recent years. It is clear that this bigotry has been emboldened and its first goal is to silence the free expression of LGBTQ+ people, through violence if necessary.Ā
The exponential increase in physical violence against LGBTQ+ people over the last few years cannot be divorced from the recent legislative environment that has grown ever-more hostile to LGBTQ+ expression. Bills categorizing drag shows as obscenity, book bans targeting LGBTQ+ authors and stories about queer identities in schools and public libraries, as well as other legislative attacks are part of this trend against the LGBTQ+ community. The attacks, both physical and through laws and bans, risk enabling a culture that normalizes repression of queer voices and increases the risk of violence aimed, in part, at suppressing expression of LGBTQ+ people, even when individuals are simply voguing to BeyoncƩ in public.
Starting in 2021, weāve seen a historic surge in book bans around the country, targeting LGBTQ+ voices and stories at a disproportionately high rate. PEN America has reported that among the top eleven books targeted by bans in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, four focused on LGBTQ+ narratives. These challenges, paired with the historic number of bills targeting LGBTQ+ people in state legislatures across the United States ā with at least 566 bills ensnaring the broader LGBTQ+ community, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker ā contribute to the normalization of repressing personal and artistic expression of queer people. As these policy attacks continue to advance, violence against the LGBTQ+ community has surged.
And while OāShae Sibleyās murder occurred in New York, a state that has passed no anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the most recent legislative session, his brutal killing shows just how pervasive the impact of anti-LGBTQ+ legislative attacks on free expression in other states are, shaping a culture that spills across borders and impacting LGBTQ+ people throughout the country. Even states perceived to be supportive to the LGBTQ+ community, such as New York, are not immune to the cultural reach of anti-LGBTQ+ repression and intimidation: the home and office of Erik Bottcher, a gay city councilmember in New York City, was vandalized last December after he voiced support for Drag Story Hour, and more recently, a rainbow Pride flag at a Manhattan restaurant was intentionally lit on fire.
Political threats to LGBTQ+ expression, whether it be through restricting and chilling on-stage performance or making it virtually impossible to even acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people in Florida and other statesā schools, have and will continue to put LGBTQ+ people at risk everywhere, chilling their ability to express themselves and potentially even sending them back into the closet, which, at its core, is a form of self-censorship.
A culture of free expression, where people can speak, write ā or dance ā free from fear of violence, is essential to a thriving democracy. LGBTQ+ people deserve to equally enjoy this right ā through creative performance, gender expression, or displays of joy. The ongoing trend of legislative attacks on drag, attempts to label LGBTQ+ stories as “obscene,” and the accompanying trend of violent assaults on LGBTQ+ people are attacks on free expression and must be condemned as such.
Henry Hicks IV is the coordinator for PEN Americaās U.S. Free Expression program. PEN America is committed to defending against attacks on LGBTQ+ free expression.
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