Check out What a Week! by Progress Iowa

Happy Pride Month! This year, Pride is especially important as the LGBTQ community has had to face the wrath of Iowa Republicans and their attempted legislation. LGBTQ Iowans deserve to feel accepted in their own state.

Click here to listen to this week’s episode of What A Week produced by Progress Iowa and part of the Potluck Media Network.

Pride Month began on Tuesday to recognize the rights of the LGBTQ community and the resilience and strength it took to have these rights recognized. In honor of Pride Month, several Iowa organizations released an Iowa LGBTQ Media Guide to provide accurate information and encourage appropriate representation of the LGBTQ community.

Stimulus checks have been proven to significantly reduce hardships, according to the Census Bureau. The two most recent checks aligned with food shortages falling by 42 percent and anxiety and depression even falling by more than 20 percent. This is significant as all of the Representatives and Senators from Iowa, except for Rep. Cindy Axne, voted against the most recent check.

The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred 100 years ago, when the wealthiest Black community in the US was burned to the ground and many Black Americans were murdered. This tragedy shows the reality we live in, with systematic racism being especially prevalent, as this massacre has been hidden from history.

Efforts to expand vaccination rates are underway as many sports teams and companies are offering free tickets, drinks, and more to vaccinated individuals. President Biden also announced this week that if the U.S. reached the goal of 70% of adults being vaccinated by July 4, Anheuser-Busch will give a free drink to all individuals over 21-years-old.

Gov. Reynolds disappointed Iowans once again as she refused to create incentives, such as a lottery, to increase vaccination rates. This refusal to take action against COVID-19 has become a strong pattern in the Reynolds administration.

Stay tuned for more next week, and if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the What A Week podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you listen.

To celebrate Pride Month, we would greatly appreciate if you could support great organizations in Iowa including One Iowa and Iowa Safe Schools.