IPN Announces 2010 Honorees

IOWA PRIDE NETWORK ANNOUNCES

HONOREES FOR ANNUAL BENEFIT

Des Moines, IA – April 26 – Principal Financial ®, Representative Roger Wendt and two Iowa Gay-Straight Alliances have been announced as honorees for the annual Spring Soiree & Honors Benefit, to be held on April 29, at the Historic Kirkwood in downtown Des Moines.  Proceeds will benefit Iowa Pride Network (IPN).

Principal Financial ® has been a longtime supporter of IPN, and will receive the “Leader in Progress Award” for helping fund IPN programs that better the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight allied (LGBTA) students throughout Iowa.

Representative Roger Wendt will receive the inaugural award named in his honor for his role in serving as lead sponsor of Iowa’s historic 2007 Safe Schools Law.  The Wendt Award will honor those who champion efforts that better the lives of students in Iowa.

Two Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), one high school and one college will be named as Iowa’s best, the night of the event.  The “Best GSA Awards” honor student groups that have shown a committed effort to raise awareness of LGBT issues on their campus and in their communities and have pioneered programs that increase the respect of LGBT people.

EVENT DETAILS:

Date:

Thursday, April 29^th, 2010

Time:

VIP Reception – 6pm

Spring Soiree – 7-9pm

Honors Program – 8pm

Place:

The Historic Kirkwood

4^th & Walnut

Downtown Des Moines

RSVP/Purchase Tickets: click HERE (click on the "Spring Soiree" logo)

About Iowa Pride Network
Iowa Pride Network empowers students to fight homophobia and transphobia in high schools and colleges by supporting gay-straight alliance (GSA) clubs and providing leadership opportunities and organizing projects centered on social justice. For more information call Iowa Pride Network at 515-471-8062 or visit Iowa Pride Network

IPN Outreach Coordinator to Depart

IOWA PRIDE NETWORK OUTREACH COORDINATOR, RACHEL JOHNSON, TO DEPART

Des Moines, IA – April 22 – Iowa Pride Network (IPN) expressed its appreciation for the work of its Outreach Coordinator, Rachel Johnson, who will be departing the organization at the end of June.  Johnson has served as Outreach Coordinator since August 1, 2007.  Johnson assisted in the development of IPN’s portfolio of programs which have become nationally recognized.

 A search for IPN’s next Outreach Coordinator will begin shortly. Johnson will assist in training the newly hired coordinator to ensure a smooth transition.

“Rachel has been involved with IPN since 2004 when she attended our first college coalition meeting.  Her work for us the past three years as Outreach Coordinator has produced amazing results in helping to better the lives of all students in Iowa,” stated Ryan Roemerman, Executive Director. While in college, Johnson was the spokesperson for IPN’s first “Student Day at the Capitol” where she implored legislators to pass a Safe Schools Law to protect all students, including those that are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).  The law passed in 2007. 

Under Johnson’s leadership as IPN Outreach Coordinator, the number of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) increased by 40% and the sustainability of those groups nearly doubled.  Johnson also doubled the number of GSA Coalitions in the state, establishing new coalitions in rural Iowa.  An accompanying GSA Coalition curriculum was created to fill the information gap by empowering youth with knowledge about their history, community, identity and culture.  In 2007, only 16% of Iowa’s LGBT youth had ever heard about LGBT people, history or events in their schools.  The curriculum increased student’s knowledge and understanding of these issues an average of 35%.

“I’m going to miss all the amazing students I’ve had the honor to work with over the years.  Their experiences have shown me how vital is it to have an organization like IPN available to youth,” stated Johnson.  “I’m eager to see where the organization will go in the years to come and have no doubt IPN will continue to triumph in its efforts to secure and uphold the rights of LGBTA youth and work to make sure they feel represented and safe in their schools. I will always remain an advocate for the rights and equality of Iowa’s LGBTA youth and will never forget what they have taught me.”

 “I know our board of directors, supporters and students will miss Rachel, but are also excited to see what she takes on next,” described Roemerman.  “Rachel has played, and will continue to play, a key role in the LGBT movement in Iowa and beyond."

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About Iowa Pride Network
Iowa Pride Network empowers students to fight homophobia and transphobia in high schools and colleges by supporting gay-straight alliance (GSA) clubs and providing leadership opportunities and organizing projects centered on social justice. For more information call Iowa Pride Network at 515-471-8062 or by visiting Iowa Pride Network.

NATIONAL DAY OF SILENCE: 4-16-10

Hundreds of thousands of students at thousands of middle schools, high schools and colleges will participate in GLSEN's 15th annual Day of Silence on Friday by taking some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment.

Click HERE for more info!

NEW IPN T-SHIRT-- Debuting at the GSA Conf.

Check out the sweet new IPN t-shirts designed by Eight Seven Central. They're debuting at the GSA Conference THIS Saturday.  

International Expert to Discuss LGBT Refugee Protection April 13

Neil Grungras, founder and executive 

director of the Organization for Refuge, 

Asylum & Migration (ORAM), will give 

a talk on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and 

Transgender (LGBT) refugees from  

12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 13, 

in Room 1117 of the University Capitol 

Centre (International Commons). Light 

refreshments will be served. The event 

is free and open to the public.
  

Grungras' talk is titled "Is the 

International Protection Regime Failing the World's Most Vulnerable 

Individuals?" Grungras is an internationally known expert in matters 

of LGBT refugee law and procedure, and ORAM is the first NGO 

devoted to protecting LGBT refugees worldwide.

The lecture will present international law and procedure against an 

analysis of ethno-cultural realities in the Global South. Grungras will 

discuss the unprecedented violence against sexual minorities that 

has occurred over the last year in several locations worldwide. These 

acts, described by some as moral cleansing, drove thousands to escape 

their home countries in search of safety.

This event is co-hosted by the University of Iowa Center for Human 

Rights, a part of International Programs, the UI LGBT Resource 

Center, the UI Department of Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies, 

and the Iowa City Human Rights Campaign.

(Above: Gay Iranian Teenagers who were executed for being gay in 2005)

NEW VIDEO: IPN Weekly Update for 4-5-10

Ryan and Rachel update viewers on the upcoming GSA Conference and the Spring Soiree. Ryan also discusses the protest Westboro Baptist Church is holding at Drake University on April 10th, and advises LGBTA students why they should act peacefully during this counter-protest.