Apply for IOWA'S BEST GSA AWARD!!

Is your GSA doing incredible activism in your high school or college?

Has the climate of your school increased because of the GSA's efforts?

Do you have a well-organized leadership structure?

Is your GSA creative?

Does your GSA provide a safe space for ALL students, regardless of orientation or identity?

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, you should think about applying for the Iowa Pride Network Award! Every year, we award one outstanding high school GSA and one outstanding college LGBT group with the Best GSA Award at our Spring Soiree on April 26. The application deadline is April 2!

For a hard copy application: click here.
To apply online: click here.

GSAs and LGBT student organizations should be celebrated for their work! Apply before April 2!

CELEBRATE STUDENTS WHO STOP BULLYING!

CELEBRATE STUDENTS WHO STOP BULLYING!

SAVE THE DATE for IOWA PRIDE NETWORK’S

ANNUAL SPRING SOIREE &

HONORS BENEFIT for LGBT STUDENTS

Thursday, April 26 from 7-9 p.m.

Hosted by the Principal Financial Group®

650 8^th Street, DSM

Join us as we celebrate Iowa students who are making their schools and colleges safe and supportive for all!

Click Here to RSVP / Donate

Nothing is more important or powerful than what our LGBT and straight allied students do on a daily basis to create safe schools and reduce bullying. Enjoy great food, meet and celebrate the next generation of LGBT and Allied leaders who will present the award for best High School and College Gay-Straight Alliance! The night will also feature the presentation of the Roger F. Wendt Education Award and Partner in Progress Award!

                                   6:00          VIP Reception

                         7:00-9:00  Spring Soiree

                         8:00          Honors Program

Don’t miss this exciting evening as we celebrate students—and their role in making schools and colleges safe!

Click Here to RSVP / Donate

Interested in serving on the Host Committee?

Please call Ryan Roemerman 515-471-8062
or email ryan@iowapridenetwork.org 

Our next big event: National Gay Straight Alliance Day!

For the past five years, Iowa has celebrated Iowa GSA Day during the last week of January. This year, we're taking it national! For the first time ever, there will be a national celebration of GSA Day on January 25, 2012!


GSA Day was started as a way to celebrate and honor our high school and college GSAs. Studies show that students who have a Gay-Straight Alliance in their school report decreased absenteeism and lower rates of name calling, harassment and assault. For decades, GSAs have been working to make their campuses safe places for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Students who start and take part in these student groups are brave. They dare to create a dialogue to improve lives. We believe that courage deserves to be recognized, to be celebrated!

Help us spread the word by "liking" our Facebook page or following us on Twitter! Tell all of your friends and help us make this a fantastic day of celebration!

GSA Day's Resources page has ideas for celebration as well as links to buy GSA Day T-Shirts and to submit to the GSA Day Video Campaign.

Each high school and college group will be celebrating in their own individual way - all throughout the country. Sign up to receive email updates and news! If you're wondering who to contact, the GSA Day Partner page has a list of State, National, Foundation, and Corporate partners, from California to Kentucky to Massachusetts. Find your state's LGBT youth organization to find out what's happening in your state!

Here in Iowa, Iowa Pride Network will be hosting a Kickoff Party on January 24, 2012 at Ritual Cafe in Des Moines. Join our Facebook event and register online for this fun (and free) event!

If your Iowa GSA is planning to celebrate, please register here. We want to know about all of the awesome things you're doing!

IPN & AIDS Project Announce $500 GSA Grants!

The AIDS Project of Central Iowa and Iowa Pride Network are proud to announce 

$500 GRANTS FOR HIV/STD EDUCATION

Three Iowa high school Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) will receive $500 grants for creative educational projects related to HIV/STD risk and prevention. The deadline for grant applications is December 1, 2011 at 5pm.


Funds will be awarded by December 31, 2011, and funded projects must be completed by March 31, 2012. For more information and to apply, click HERE  

IPN Hires Outreach Coordinator

IOWA PRIDE NETWORK

HIRES OUTREACH COORDINATOR

DES MOINES— Iowa Pride Network has hired Dana Stuehling as its Outreach Coordinator.  Dana is a 2011 graduate of Smith College in Northampton, MA where she studied Sociology, focusing on race, gender and sexuality.  Dana will be responsible for enhancing Iowa Pride Network’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth leadership and organizing projects and providing outreach to Gay-Straight Alliances.

“As an anti-oppression activist, this is a perfect fit for me. It's extremely important that we challenge discrimination and oppression. Iowa Pride Network provides the vehicle for our students to understand social justice and I am proud to work with them in creating a more welcoming state for all people,” said Dana.

During her tenure at Smith, Dana worked with Students for Social Justice and Institutional Change and co-chaired the working group, Queers and Allies; both groups focused on working for LGBT rights within the college community and at a national level.  As a student, Dana acted as a resource for local GSAs, the local domestic violence shelter, the Smith Community Service Office, and with cultural bridges to justice™, a national consortium of anti-oppression trainers.

“We are thrilled to have Dana as our Outreach Coordinator.  Her expertise and organizing experience will allow us to grow the network and enhance our programs to meet the needs of our students across Iowa,” said Ryan Roemerman, Iowa Pride Network Executive Director.

Iowa Students Respond to the Murder of Marcellus Andrews

IOWA STUDENTS RESPOND TO THE MURDER OF MARCELLUS RICHARD ANDREWS

Des Moines, Iowa– August 25 – Iowa Pride Network’s Leadership Team, made up of high school and college students from across Iowa issued a statement today regarding the brutal killing of 19 year old Marcellus Richard Andrews in Waterloo, Iowa. 

 

“This Sunday, many of us were getting ready for our first day of classes. However, as we all now know, one person was not. Upon hearing the story of Marcellus Richard Andrews, we were deeply disturbed that such violence and persecution happened here in the state of Iowa; however we were not entirely surprised that this sort of incident happened. We know firsthand that discrimination and bigotry both exist here, as in other places in the nation, despite our outward progressive appearance.

Let us not as citizens become so naïve as to think occurrences such as these are confined to places that are always elsewhere and never “here,” ever close to home. This has served as a reminder that the fight for equality is not over. We as youth need to vocalize what is happening in our schools and communities to better ensure the safety of all. We need to report every incident, every time so that issues such as these do not go unnoticed. By bringing these issues to the forefront people can become educated and help eliminate tragic events like this one. It is our hope that one day all youth will feel safe to live out in the open, as who they truly are.”

              Benjamin Alley, University of Iowa

Holly Wilson, Southeast Polk High School

Sean Hernandez, University of Iowa                                      

Dane Buchholz Iowa State University

Rachel Anderson, Grinnell College                                         

Alan Toussaint, University of Iowa

Joy Dannelly, Roosevelt High School                                     

Mika Covington, IWCC

Nicholas Muntz, University of Iowa                                        

Brittany Banks, Waldorf College

Stephen Boatwright, DMACC                                                   

              Sara Puffer, University of Iowa

IPN to Present at First Federal LGBT Youth Summit

IOWA PRIDE NETWORK TO 
PRESENT AT FIRST-EVER FEDERAL LGBT YOUTH SUMMIT IN D.C.

Des Moines, Iowa– June 2 – Iowa Pride Network has been invited to the nation’s capital to present at the first-ever Federal Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Youth Summit on June 6 and 7th. 

Iowa Pride Network is a statewide nonprofit organization working to make schools and colleges safe for all students by empowering students to combat bullying, homophobia, tranphobia, and hate. The network has become a nationally recognized leader in student leadership development and safe school policies.

Ryan Roemerman, Executive Director of Iowa Pride Network will present on a policy panel discussing strategies to improve public policy at the state, local and national levels to create safe and suppotive learning environments for LGBT youth.

Erin Kraber and Alexandra Nassif, both students at the University of Iowa and Sarah Mowitz, recent Roosevelt High School graduate, will co-present a workshop with the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance entitled, "The Power of Youth Leadership in Passing and Implementing Enumerated Bullying Policies at the District and State Level."

“We’re proud to be invited to participate in this historic summit and for the opportunity to highlight Iowa’s pioneering work regarding safe school policy and student leadership,” stated Roemerman.

Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius will kick off the two day summit along with Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

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About Iowa Pride Network
Iowa Pride Network empowers students to fight bullying, homophobia, transphobia and hate 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 www.iowapridenetwork.org