Ace Rios accepted a job offer to teach music at Fremont-Mills High School in Tabor, Iowa, with staff support and a classroom already decorated for the new school year. Then a group of parents learned he was transgender, packed a school board meeting and demanded he be denied the job. The board obliged: a 2-2 tie rescinded his contract days before classes started, with no explanation offered.
A qualified educator lost a job he'd already been offered by a handful of elected officials for no other reason than living as their authentic self. This isn't isolated. Ask any LGBTQIA+ Iowan about how difficult life has become in Iowa. Many of us are moving to safer places.
Too many people asking for our votes this cycle have made clear, through their rhetoric or silence, that they don't want to answer questions— that they'll let a crowd override a job offer, a classroom and a person's livelihood.
We know we won't agree with every official on every issue. What we're asking is for officials willing to sit down, listen and take our concerns seriously. So many LGBTQIA+ Iowans feel shut out of that conversation and are fearful for their jobs, families and futures because of it.
Every candidate on this year's ballot, from school board to Congress, owes voters a straight answer: Will you defend our right to work and live openly, even when it isn't popular?
We are watching, and we are voting.
Corey Jacobson
Cedar Rapids