Statement from One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing with stories from gay and lesbian veterans

A year ago today, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military—went into effect at midnight. While Congress was considering the repeal legislation, a poll found that a majority of Americans (67 percent) supported ending the ban on open service by gay and lesbian troops. Since then, a recent study has shown that the repeal has not hurt the military, nor has it affected retention or recruitment efforts--contrary to the predictions of opponents of the repeal.

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds at their weekly news conference today that they are inviting all Iowa middle schools and high schools to submit a video about what their school is doing to prevent bullying and what more might be done, prior to the Governor’s Bullying Prevention Summit, which will be held Nov. 27 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.

Iowa public schools have a new tool to report and track bullying incidents in detail as they happen throughout the year.

The Iowa Department of Education launched the database on Friday, the Des Moines Register reported in its Saturday editions.

Following a 4 - 3 vote this evening (Sept. 11) from the Maplewood City Council, Maplewood became the seventh city in St. Louis County that has remedied the exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens from their nondiscrimination protections and extends these protections to more than 8,000 residents.