John and Terri Hale own The Hale Group, an Ankeny-based advocacy firm working for better lives for all Iowans. Contact them at terriandjohnhale@gmail.com.

“In Nature, a flock will attack any bird that is more colorful than the others because being different is seen as a threat…”

That’s a phrase from a now-trending music video titled The Village from an artist known as Wrabel. It tells the story of a transgender teen and the intense emotional challenges faced as they struggle with their own thoughts and feelings, unsupportive parents, community, church and school.

It’s a powerful video that everyone should watch—regardless of your views on LGBTQ issues, political leanings, faith, etc.  

Wrabel’s message to the LGBTQ community—especially trans kids—is “There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s something wrong with the Village.”

The Village is that part of society that endorses efforts to discriminate against, if not erase, the LGBTQ community—in particular those who are transgender.

In Iowa, Republican legislators introduced a record 29 anti-LGBTQ bills during the recent session. Twenty-nine bills that called for blocking access to basic human rights for our LGBTQ friends, children and families, co-workers and neighbors. 

These measures called for everything from taking away the right to same-sex marriage, to censuring teachers from using words—and librarians from having books—that acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ Iowans, to denying parents and their doctors the right to make life-saving decisions for transgender kids.

Each bill, whether it became law or not, sent destructive messages to the LGBTQ community: “You are not wanted here. You don’t deserve the same rights guaranteed to others, including the right to love who you love. You don’t have the freedom to flourish in Iowa.”

Why the attacks on the LGBTQ community? Simply put, they are easy pickings. The LGBTQ population is outnumbered. They do not have immense political power, though it is growing. Misinformation, distortions, and confusion lead people to fear what they do not understand. Like the colorful birds in the quote above, being different is seen as a threat to life as many have known it. Many Republicans are capitalizing on that fear, riling up their base of voters and promising that, if elected, constituents can count on them to deal with what they insinuate is a clear and present danger.

This is Iowa in 2023: a horribly divided state, and as anti-LGBTQ legislation shows, a religious state that too often doesn’t practice what is preached—to treat others the way they want to be treated, to show some charity and be kind, to love and accept others for who they are.

We’re blessed with wonderful friends in the LGBTQ community who are making tremendous contributions to their workplaces, neighborhoods, communities, states,and nation.

They’ve told us how the bills—and accompanying rhetoric—make them feel. Some plan to leave Iowa. Others plan never to move here.

As allies, we’re disgusted by the attacks on our LGBTQ friends and colleagues. We’re tired of the holier-than-thou attitudes of many elected Republicans and candidates. Enough is enough.

We can all take action to stop it.

Allies of the LGBTQ community: invite your Republican legislator(s) to meet with you. Try to get to know them as people, not just lawmakers. Ask what they believe and why. In a direct and non-confrontational way, tell your story and why you support the LGBTQ community. If their contact with the LGBTQ community has been minimal, offer to arrange additional opportunities to build relationships.

Leaders in business and industry: step up and speak out on behalf of your valued LGBTQ employees and customers. You have a powerful voice. Legislators may listen to you when they may not listen to others.

Republican legislators: before proposing or voting on additional anti-LGBTQ legislation, seek to understand and really get to know those in the LGBTQ community whose lives you may be dramatically altering.

Legislators are in their districts until the start of the next session in January. They, and we, should take advantage of this time to meet, talk, listen and hopefully learn.

If reasonable and influential voices are silent, things will not get any better. Sadly, they could get even worse.

Top photo taken outside the state capitol during a March 5, 2023 rally to support LGBTQ Iowans is by Michael F. Hiatt and available via Shutterstock.

Let’s start by stating the obvious: it’s very unlikely any of the eight candidates on stage for the August 23 debate in Milwaukee will become next year’s Republican presidential nominee. All nationwide and early-state polls point to the same conclusion: most GOP voters aren’t looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. They don’t find his baggage disqualifying. He’ll be the nominee unless he is physically incapacitated between now and next summer.

With that assumption in mind, we should think about “winners” from the first Republican National Committee debate in a different way. The question isn’t who improved their chances of winning this race, but rather, who made sure they will remain relevant, both in this election cycle and in the future, when Trump won’t be on the ballot?

From that perspective, no one had a better night than former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Here’s why:

Dan Guild is a lawyer and project manager who lives in New Hampshire. In addition to writing for Bleeding Heartland, he has written for CNN and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, most recently here. He also contributed to the Washington Post’s 2020 primary simulations. Follow him on Twitter @dcg1114.

The gold standard Iowa pollster, Selzer & Co—their caucus record is nothing short of amazing—is out with a new poll showing former President Donald Trump with a significant lead among likely Republican caucus-goers. He has 42 percent support, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has 19 percent, and Senator Tim Scott has 9 percent. Former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley were tied at 6 percent, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie registered 5 percent, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 4 percent, and all others at 2 percent or less.  

I have written about the Iowa caucuses and their history many times. A few reminders:

Photo of Vivek Ramaswamy at the Iowa State Fair by Greg Hauenstein, whose other Iowa political photography can be found here.

“Good things are going to happen in this country, and it just might take a different generation to help lead us there,” Vivek Ramaswamy said a few minutes into his “fair-side chat” with Governor Kim Reynolds on August 12. The youngest candidate in the GOP presidential field (he turned 38 last week) regularly reminds audiences that he is the first millennial to run for president as a Republican.

Speaking to reporters after the chat, Ramaswamy asserted, “it takes a person of a different generation to reach the next generation.” He expressed doubt that “an octogenarian can reinspire and reignite pride in the next generation,” and said his “fresh legs” can reach young voters by “leading us to something” instead of “running from something.”

But the candidate’s talking points—especially the “ten commandments” that typically cap his stump speech—are a better fit for an older demographic than for the young voters Republicans have been alienating for the past 20 years.

Tom Walton chairs the Dallas County Democrats, was a Democratic primary candidate for Iowa House district 28 in 2022, and is an attorney.

In the 2022 election for Iowa House district 28, Republican David Young showed up again in Iowa politics, after losing Congressional races in 2018 and 2020. Young won the Iowa House seat covering parts of Dallas County by only 907 votes, after the Iowa Democratic Party spent only about a quarter as much on supporting its nominee as the Republican Party of Iowa spent on behalf of Young.

Each of those winning votes cost his campaign about $331 based on campaign finance data. All told, Young and the Republican Party spent nearly half a million dollars on his race. As this article demonstrates, his election cost everyone too much—in money spent and loss of freedoms.

Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

All the hoopla about next year’s Iowa Republican party caucus, now scheduled for January 15, suffers from at least two delusions.

One delusion is that former President Donald Trump, the current odds-on favorite to win the Iowa caucuses, is qualified to be president or, for that matter, hold any position of public trust and service.

The other delusion is that the rest of the nation should even care about the caucus outcome. We don’t warrant such status or consideration right now.