Iowa City, Iowa, March 2023
The man clutches a rosary in his right hand. He looks about forty but it is hard to tell. He is balding and his remaining hair is dark brown showing no signs of gray. His face is covered in a shaggy brown beard and a somewhat unkempt mustache - it is discernible but there are a number of rogue hairs that grow straight out from his rounded cheeks.
His black-rimmed glasses aren’t flashy but aren’t out of style either. He’s wearing a black v-neck sweater over a faded red shirt, his jeans are clean in a light wash, and he’s wearing retro New Balance sneakers.
His mustache appears to move slowly as he mouths the words to a song or saying or prayer only he (and God of course) can hear. In his left hand, he holds a small pocket Bible and his iPhone 14, both balanced in his crotch the camera lens is turned toward the front of the room
To his left an older man with gray hair. He is wearing one black-lined leather glove, his fingers curled around the handle of an old wooden cane. The other hand (naked) is holding his trilby and resting on his knee. He removed his hat. It strikes me as odd. It’s a symbol of reverence and respect in the USA after all; churches? - off, during the national anthem? - off, flag raising/lowering? - off, etc.
Another man - I would find out a part of this group of several people - stands in the front of the room holding a sign. On a piece of cardboard he’s written in thick, black Sharpie: “Groomers go home!”
Iowa City is one of my favorite places. I love the old capitol, the University of Iowa, and back when, the music scene that was growing up all around. It’s famous for the writer’s workshop and is the very first UNESCO City of Literature in the United States and only the third in North America.
So it makes sense that it is the place where children and parents gathered at the public library to listen to stories - it is magic - storytelling. And from all accounts it was a huge success.
It also makes sense - in 2023 when the Iowa GOP and Governor Reynolds are hell bent on implementing a radical right wing [c]hristian agenda. Iowa City has always been a preferred hang out of the snowflake bleeding heart liberal bleeding all over the streets of this learned place, the hallowed halls of letters.
Again this makes it the perfect place for the man pictured above and his comrades in hate to protest oh so silently as they film the drag story hour. It’s like a new kink, is it a genre of p0rn I am not aware of? It’s possible; I’m not up on the latest trends in that arena.
I want to be clear - I am not being flippant about this. It is very serious cause for concern. When my daughter was only 10 years old, a man approached her in a Barnes and Nobel and exposed himself. It was terrifying. I was enraged. I tore the Union Square B & N apart looking for him but poof - gone.
I want to be clear again - I am not suggesting this man did anything legally wrong or in any way exposed himself to any child or any one. But I am saying this: If I were a parent with my child sitting in that room and a man clutching a rosary and holding a Bible was sitting there filming - no matter if my kid was in the frame or not - I would be livid.
It’s legal. A person can film anywhere according to Iowa law so the Man is able to do what he is doing there with his camera in his lap. Likewise, I could sit and eat 100 uncooked hotdogs at my kitchen table in silence watching Bob’s Burgers on repeat for an hour.
Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
We should all be livid.
Because the signs these good christians carry about drag queens as groomers? They need to remove ye olde log from their eye.
By the way, if your city is interested in applying for this hallowed status of UNESCO City of Literature/Art/etc. 2023 applications are now open here. And remember from the 2022 UNESCO Mexico Declaration - one of the values of priority is diversity, freedom of expression, inclusion:
Expressing our concern about the continued vulnerability of the cultural sector, particularly in the wake of the global COVID-19 crisis, which has profoundly disrupted the cultural ecosystem as a whole – exacerbating structural fragilities and inequalities, including social and gender gaps and unequal access to culture, as well as restrictions on fundamental freedoms, notably artistic freedom, status and livelihoods of artists, cultural professionals, practitioners and communities, particularly for women, in all areas of the cultural value chain;
Further reaffirming the imperative of protecting and promoting human rights and cultural diversity, in view of the increasing threats to culture and its use for purposes which are likely to expose it to destruction or damage in the context of armed conflicts, which result in the intentional or collateral destruction of cultural heritage, the acceleration of illicit trafficking of cultural property, the violation of human and cultural rights, including through discrimination, the disruption of living cultural practices, and exacerbated vulnerability of cultural actors, institutions, sites and markets, thereby undermining the intrinsic value of culture as a link between peoples and a source of income, while at the same time eroding cultural diversity on a global scale.
IA City cultural Mecca of IA.❤️