Over the last few years, the Iowa legislature has passed laws that affect entire segments of the state’s population, including book bans and prohibiting schools from teaching LGBTQ+ subjects. A recent post on One Human Family’s online Hate Incident Reporting Form detailed the harassment a child in school faced:

“When walking between classes my 15-year-old overheard people behind him trying to guess his gender and making other derogatory comments. My child began to turn around to confront them when one girl said, ‘If you dare to turn around, I will hit you with my laptop.’ My child quickly moved away and reported the incident to the guidance office. They pulled camera footage but my child declined to report to police as he feared it will make things worse.”

Social justice advocacy organizations encourage elected officials to govern with compassion and respect for the diversity of the local community. But in recent years, these groups have noted that elected officials are unresponsive.

The lack of response is why One Human Family is inviting representatives from social justice advocacy organizations in the area to a free Summit on Re-Imagining Social Justice Advocacy. The Summit will be held on Saturday, October 7 from 8:30-10 a.m. at the Metropolitan Community Church, 2930 W. Locust Street in Davenport. A continental breakfast will be served starting at 8 a.m. A Social Justice Intersectional Resource Fair follows the Summit from 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

The Summit is not open to the public, but each social justice advocacy organization in the community is invited to send three representatives. Participants will brainstorm effective, peaceful and legal strategies to bring about human rights protections in Iowa.

Several organizations have already registered; these groups are asked to send the names of their representatives to Rev. Rich Hendricks at richdhendricks@msn.com. Click here to register an organization for the Summit.