Cedar Rapids Pride won’t be denied

One of the best parts of serving as board president for CR Pride is getting to spend time connecting with youth in our community. Whether it’s at a family-friendly drag show, attending a youth transgender panel discussion or spending time with the LGBTQIA+ youth center at Tanager, I have had the opportunity to interact with some incredible youth who will do amazing things with their futures.

These youth shine bright despite increasingly dire circumstances. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community — particularly the courageous young people among us — continue to be negatively impacted across the United States by laws that limit a person's ability to live as their authentic self. In 2023, state lawmakers nationwide have introduced over 500 bills that have negative impacts on the LGBTQIA+ community. These bills deny individuals access to the bathroom that matches their identity, restrict youths and their parents’ ability to make health care decisions that support their identity and limit discussions of LGBTQIA+ curriculum in schools. Sadly, Iowa is among those states that have passed such laws in 2023.

Our community is excited as we prepare to celebrate love and authenticity with our annual Pride festival on July 8, but against this legislative backdrop, we know that Pride this year just feels different for many.

As adults, it is our responsibility to ensure children are able to attend school in a safe, welcoming environment where they are accepted and respected for who they are. Our principals, teachers, counselors, support staff and coaches are on the front lines advocating for all of our children. No school staff member should have to forcibly out a child or be a police officer when walking by a school bathroom. Our educators are doing everything they can to ensure that our youth are educated in an inclusive environment.

To every educator out there who loves their students for whom they are, we thank you. Your allyship to our LGBTQIA+ youth makes it easier for children to learn and grow into well-informed adults who embrace their own unique identities and who readily accept others, regardless of who they are.

These laws truly take a toll on the mental health of individuals within our communities, especially our youngest citizens. This year’s annual survey of LGBTQIA+ youth conducted by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit devoted to preventing suicide among LGBTQIA+ youth, is quite concerning. According to the data:

● Forty-one percent of LGBTQ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including half of transgender and nonbinary young people and nearly three in 10 cisgender young people.

● Fourteen percent of LGBTQ young people attempted suicide in the past year, including nearly one in five transgender and nonbinary young people and nearly one in 10 cisgender young people.

● Nearly one in three LGBTQ young people said their mental health was poor most of the time or always due to anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation.

● Nearly two in three LGBTQ young people said hearing about potential state or local laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ people at school worsened their mental health.

Our youth are fortunate to live in a welcoming community. In the metro, the Cities of Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha and Linn County all passed proclamations honoring Pride Month. The City of Cedar Rapids also is flying the Pride flag at City Hall through July 8. Numerous homes and businesses proudly fly a flag to display support for our community. While these might seem like little acts, to the youth in our community, these actions show they are respected and valued — that no matter what’s going on in the world, here they are represented and loved.

CR Pride has focused this year on bringing attention to issues impacting our community by sharing our stories. By telling these stories, we are able to build relationships and help build bridges for acceptance. We’ve seen wonderful support for our youth at our events. This year, we have set a record for the number of sponsors for CR Pride. Our booth space at the festival is sold out for the first time ever. We increased the entries in our Pride parade and saw the crowd of parade watchers grow from 3,000 in 2022 to 6,000 in 2023.

As we wrap up Pride season, CR Pride reaffirms our commitment to year-round programming that “creates opportunities for awareness, inclusivity and visibility of LGBTQIA+ individuals within our community.” We invite all of our community and allies to our yearly festival at NewBo City Market from noon to 6 p.m.on Saturday, July 8. We also invite you to get involved with CR Pride. We are an entirely volunteer-led organization and it does take a village to make all this happen. Please visit us at crprideia.com or follow us on our socials to learn how to get involved.

We are fortunate to live in a welcoming community. With us all working together, we can continue to build upon our successes from years past and show our youth that there is a future for them in our community. Yes, we have work to do, and CR Pride is ready to continue building relationships to foster changes to ensure a safe and welcoming community where all are represented, respected and valued. What a wonderful day that will be!

Corey Jacobson is board president of CR Pride.