TPQC in nationwide spotlight, Byron Allen and BET, Iowa’s book ban
Moline’s TPQC featured in Time article about gender-affirming care and insurance: The Project of the Quad Cities, which began offering gender-affirming care for youth in September, shares with Time Magazine the soaring costs of malpractice insurance in light of growing bans nationwide on gender-affirming care for youth. Read the article here.
Byron Allen seeks to buy BET: The entertainment mogul made a $3.5 billion offer for the BET Media Group that also includes VH-1. Allen’s offer is the second he’s made this year and is inspired this time, The Deadline reports, by Paramount’s plans to sell the Black-identified media company to an investor group.
Iowa schools striving to meet new book ban deadline: “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” “Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Ulysses” are among the books already being removed from Iowa public school libraries as districts try to comply by the new year with a new state law that “bans any books in school libraries that describe or visually depict a sex act,” reports KCRG.
(photo credit: The Project of the Quad Cities landing page for gender-affirming care for youth)
Matthew Shepard stamp campaign, ending HIV/AIDS, and new Illinois Soul 101.1FM
Campaign launched for Matthew Shepard memorial stamp: Heralding the slain Wyoming youth as “an international symbol for acceptance (and) tolerance” for inspiring laws against hate crimes, the Matthew Shepard Foundation earlier this month launched a campaign for a U.S. Postal Services stamp in his honor. (Advocate)
Illinois Public Media to launch black-centric radio station: Illinois Soul 101.1FM, to launch Feb. 1, will feature programming to “connect listeners with relevant issues in the Black community through a mix of NPR news programs and music genres such as jazz, R&B, and gospel.” (Radio Ink)
World governments recommit to ending HIV/AIDS by 2030: Facing a global funding shortfall of $50 million, the UNAIDS coalition of world governments said this week that “fresh thinking and approaches are urgently required” to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by its stated goal of 2030 (Poz Magazine)
(photo credit: jiadoldol on Flickr)
Iowa City grants, Planned Parenthood in southern Illinois, Trump out in Colorado, kindergarten enrollment drops
Racial equity, social justice grant apps in Iowa City due Jan. 4: The city’s Human Rights Commission will award $100,000 in grant funds to groups and businesses focused on “encouraging, empowering, and engaging racial equity and social justice initiatives.” Read more from the City of Iowa City Government.
More abortion services, gender-affirming care in southern Illinois with new Planned Parenthood clinic: The Illinois group raised $40 million to fund the new Carbondale center and says the center “welcomes all patients regardless of their zip code.” (KHQA)
Fewer kids enrolled in kindergarten since pandemic: Home-schooling and the scheduling challenges triggered by entering kindergarten are some of the reasons why its enrollment has dropped nationwide by more than 5 percent since 2019 (The Hechinger Report).
Colorado ruling on Trump likely headed to U.S. Supreme Court: Election law expert Rick Hasen lays out why the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to review Tuesday’s historic ruling taking Trump off of Colorado’s presidential ballot. Read it in Election Law Blog.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
LGBTQ+ blessings from Pope Francis, AIA’s first black female leader, and Iowa’s relatively small LGBTQ+ population
Pope Francis’ record of LGBTQ+ outreach goes beyond “blessings” for same-sex couples: The world’s top Catholic pope has also welcomed transgender people to be baptized and to become godfathers and godmothers, and criticized countries that declare homosexuality a crime, writes David Crary of the Associated Press.
First black female leader of American Institute of Architects inaugurated: Kimberly Dowdell, of Chicago and formerly of Detroit, is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and aims to focus on “climate change and equity.” (Archinect)
Iowa among states with smallest percentage of LGBTQ+ people: With just over 113,000 LGBTQ+ people estimated to live in Iowa, totalling 4.7 percent of its population, the Midwestern state joins North Dakota and five southern states on the Williams Institute’s list of states with the smallest queer populations. (Advocate)
(photo courtesy Mata Amritanandamayi through Wikimedia Commons and shows Pope Francis with 10 other world leaders signing a resolution against human trafficking in 2014.)
