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Digital Vol. 1; Issue 1 FREE
Guide to the Iowa Caucuses 2020
The long and cold road to Caucus Night comes to an end Feb. 3rd.
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A note from the publisher and editor... Welcome to our first-ever digital issue of GoGuide Magazine. It’s our follow-up to our “Guide to the Iowa Caucuses 2020” that appears in our Winter Issue print magazine. The new Digital GoGuide format allows us to expand on topics and candidate information that we were not able to fit in the print magazine. The digital magazine is also accessible statewide and nationwide so that everyone has access to our forum. GoGuide Media would like to thank those candidates that chose to participate. It’s not fair to assume that any candidate that did not join is in someway not an ally of Iowa’s LGBTQ+ communities. We look forward to your feedback. Please don’t hesitate to participate in this forum. Encourage others to join the conversation. Promote your candidate, and let’s get out the vote on Feb. 3. It’s our News; Our way.
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Will Iowa Democrats make history February 3rd? Can an openly gay Indiana Mayor win the Iowa caucuses? Various Media Reports
Iowa - What appeared to be a long-shot candidacy at best is now considered to be the front-runner in Iowa, according to recent polls. South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg, is not only the first openly gay candidate running for President from a major political party he is poised to win the Iowa Caucuses and is polling well in upcoming primary states as well. His campaign has also raised a lot of money, which is the may “experts” rate a candidate’s chances of competing. “Iowa is unquestionably up for grabs,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political research Center. Paleologos goes on to say, “Buttigieg has found a lane and is accelerating to the front of the pack... he is now clearly ahead of one-time Iowa favorites Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.” It’s not surprising that many in the LGBTQ+ communities support the campaign of Pete Buttieged. Of course, his support is not universal. For example, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has a strong command of the issues most important to the LGBTQ community and consequently enjoys considerable support among LGBTQ voters. Now Mayor Pete Buttigieg is facing a surprising new accusation. Some say he’s not gay enough. However, most disagree. Skylar Baker-Jordan, a nationally known columnist, wrote for The Independent, “Pete Buttigieg is gay enough, and so am I. Many, if not most, gay people are boring..they spend their time at churches in flyover states. In rural America, Buttigieg still counts as radical.” GoGuide’s LGBTQ Presidential Forum Update During the period between the printed magazine and release of the digital magazine, efforts were undertaken to reach out to all the campaigns running in Iowa as part of our LGBTQ+ Presidential Forum. The Sanders campaign offered a testimonial from a local volunteer, the Iowa Biden campaign acknowledged receipt of the request but never replied, and the Warren campaign despite attempts to contact at multiple levels of the campaign has not yet even accepted or acknowledged our invitation. GG
It’s campaign season, and it’s getting competitive If you live in Iowa and follow your Facebook or Twitter feeds, you have probably noticed the change in tone as we get closer to the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. It’s fair to imagine this highly competitive discourse to continue to ramp up as we get closer to the November 2020 elections. As Americans, we enjoy our free speech. However, free speech protection goes only so far. You do not have the right to incite rights or to encourage people to harm other people. Let’s keep it, “Iowa Nice.” Promote your candidate. Encourage others to participate. That’s how our Democracy works best. GG
Keep up to date on the latest campaign information by joining the GoGuide email blast community. It’s as easy as 1-2-3-Send.
The 2020 Iowa Caucuses Let your voice be heard. As Iowan’s, this is our opportunity to have a real impact on the 2020 Presidential race for the White House. It’s also our responsibility to let the politicians know that our vote should never be taken for granted. This election cycle GoGuide Magazine ran forum in which we offered each campaign an opportunity to respond to questions of interest to the LGBTQ+ communities, friends, and allies. Every major Democratic candidate was contacted. A few notable campaigns did not respond or were unable to complete the task of scheduling the interview. I would encourage all voters to give special attention to those candidates that decided to join the forum. These are the candidates that were willing to put their support for the community in writing. Supporting one of these candidates sends a strong signal to all that nobody’s vote is guaranteed.
What you need to know The 2020 Iowa Caucuses will be held on February 3rd, 2020. Iowa is the first in the nation to be counted. The Iowa Caucuses are the responsibility of each Party to organize. Each Party must organize the caucuses from top to bottom, including recruiting and training precinct captains, securing caucus locations, and certifying the results. Contact the Iowa Democratic Party at www.iowademocrats.org/2020-caucuses. Find your caucus at https://iwillvote.com/. GG
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In their own words... The 2020 GoGuide Presidential Forum
South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg GG: Are you all in to win the Iowa Caucuses? Can you win Iowa? Absolutely. I’m looking forward to visiting with Iowans from all across the state –– including cities, rural areas, and counties that are not necessarily known for being very Democratic. I think that’s really important. That’s why I was recently up in Cresco, a county that Obama won by 20 points in 2012, and then Trump won by 20 points in 2016. My introduction to the state was as a volunteer in 2008, knocking on doors for Barack Obama in Decatur, Union, Ringgold counties. I know there are a lot of communities across this state that are ObamaTrump swing counties, and I think that’s a big part of where we need to succeed. We need more voices from places that have often been neglected or felt left out of the political conversation. And there are so many communities in Iowa, whether it’s an industrial city similar to my hometown of South Bend, or rural communities where people grow up getting this message like I did growing up that success had to mean getting out. This President spoke to communities like that, but in a very destructive way, basically saying that the only way things could get any better for us is to turn back the clock. But that is a promise you can’t keep because there is no going back. But we can move forward. My message is one of generational change, and I plan to make my case to Iowans all across the state for why I believe I am the best candidate for that. GG: It may seem like a ridiculous question, but are you going to seek the LGBTQ vote actively? Often the LGBTQ vote is taken for granted or is not actively sought after by major party candidates. I’m going to seek every American’s vote, and that certainly includes the LGBTQ community. You know, I began my career at a time when you could either be out, or you could have a career in politics, but you couldn’t have both. But thanks to the grace of a single vote on the Supreme Court, last year, I had the freedom to marry my husband,
Chasten, while serving as the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Things are changing very quickly, but we have got a long way to go. Getting marriage equality did not end the struggle for equality in general for the LGBTQ community. You look at the fact that a lot of parts of the country lack basic protections, including parts of Indiana where I live, where you could be fired for who you are. We see a lot of attacks coming out of this White House on transgender Americans. We’ve got to end the war on trans-Americans. We need an Equality Act. I think it’s pretty shocking that the Equality Act that sailed through the House of Representatives is being held up by the GOP-led Senate and President. That’s why we need a federal Equality Act that would protect people from being fired just because of who you are or because of who you love. GG: You talk about a new vision for America. In what ways does that vision include the LGBTQ community? Right now, people of color, women, LGBTQ Americans, immigrants, and others, feel like they are under attack from this administration. And we need to find ways to stand up for each other and to reach across the different boundaries of identity that we have to stand up for the basic idea of freedom and equality. This is a moment where anybody who could be marked out as different is in some way vulnerable, because of the way this administration works. The struggle for equality for the LGBTQ community, on everything from workplace discrimination to trans service members’ dignity, does not compete with the other struggles of Americans. It reinforces these struggles, and it obligates us all to do everything we can to lift one another up in the struggle. We have to stand with each other, no matter what. Harvey Milk used to talk about the “us-es”—not just gays, but the black community, seniors, the disabled. Anyone who’s been marginalized, or preyed upon, or counted out. And the only way we’ll move forward is if all of us “us-es” rise together to meet this moment. To make our “us-es” into a bigger us without pretending that we’re all the same, without needing to be all the same to put it all on the line for one another. The struggle for freedom and fairness and a better life reaches far beyond our LGBTQ experience. But our experience arms us with empathy, and it fills us with the energy to get this done. GG: Healthcare is on the minds of all Americans. How is your healthcare proposal better or different than other candidates? We need to move to universal health care. I don’t understand how we are expected to accept America as the only developed country that lacks this. And, universal health care is popular. Now we can talk about how quickly and how ambitiously we can implement this. I
don’t believe we can just flip the switch overnight and expect a single-payer to work smoothly. Think about how hard it was just to get the Affordable Care Act, which is a comparatively conservative thing to do now. What I would do is push for what I call a “Medicare for all who want it” approach. Basically, take a flavor of Medicare and put it on the exchanges. And then let people opt-in, I expect that it will be better and more competitive than the corporate options, and therefore more people will buy into it. Over time, it’s a smoother glide path to a Medicare for all environment, which I think is the most attractive destination. GG: Tell us in a paragraph or two why you want to be President and why this is the time for you? I’m running for President because I believe we are living at a moment of such seriousness and such opportunity that we’ve got to do something completely different. What happens in the next three or four years will decide how America functions for the next thirty or forty. I think more than anything, and we need to stand on our values. Values like freedom, security, and democracy. And we must insist that these values do not belong to one political party. So in that spirit, we’re organizing a different kind of campaign, and because this moment calls for a different message and a different messenger, which I am. I’m a middle-class mayor from the industrial Midwest, from a new generation, at a moment when America needs a new generation of leadership to step forward. Somebody who can speak to how growing up with school shootings as the norm; growing up in an age when climate is going to impact our life possibilities and choices; somebody who belongs to the generation that could be the first in history to be worse off than our parents if nothing is done to change our economy. Our party needs to demonstrate that it can speak to every part of the country, including a hometown like mine from the industrial Midwest whose story is living proof that there is no such thing as an honest politics built around the word ‘again.’ That’s why I’m running for President. Thanks to the grace of a single vote on the Supreme Court, last year, I had the freedom to marry my husband, Chasten, while serving as the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Things are changing very quickly, but we have got a long way to go. Getting marriage equality did not end the struggle for equality in general for the LGBTQ community. You look at the fact that a lot of parts of the country lack basic protections, including parts of Indiana. More information can be found at www.peteforamerica.com. GG
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker GG: Are you all in for the Iowa Caucuses? I am incredibly confident with where we are ahead of the Iowa Caucuses. We invested in organizing the Iowa way: we hired a team with deep Iowa ties and experience and got them on the ground early. They are now widely recognized as one of the best organizations in the state, and we are executing our plan to organize, organize, organize, and get hot at the end. We have earned more endorsements from Iowa elected officials and activists, including the Iowa Dems’ Stonewall Caucus Chair Kyla Paterson, than any other 2020 campaign. And now, thanks to a make-or-break fundraising push, we have the resources we need to keep growing our operation and secure our path to victory. GG: Are you actively seeking the LGBTQ vote in Iowa in preparation for the Caucus? The LGBTQ vote should be critical to anyone seeking the Democratic nomination for any office. Protecting and advancing the rights and interests of the LGBTQ community is central to who we are as Democrats. One of my favorite events of this campaign so far was when we stopped by Iowa Safe Schools’ summer camp to celebrate the youth participating in that groundbreaking program, and I was proud to participate in the LGBTQ Presidential Forum in Cedar Rapids just a few weeks ago. I will continue to raise issues of LGBTQ equality on the campaign trail and in debates because, as Dr. King says, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” GG: Why should the LGBTQ community support you in the Iowa Caucus for President? I believe that, as candidates, we should be talking about both what we will do as President and what we have already done. This issue of equality, this issue of justice existed long before this race began. I grew up with parents who talked to me openly and urgently about issues of justice in this nation. They let me know that the rights and privileges I enjoyed were fought for not just by Black Americans, but by the full rainbow of Americans who stood up for justice, and they expected that I would live the same way. So, when I began my professional career, I took on issues of housing discrimination. When I became Mayor of Newark, the first flag I raised was the American flag and the second flag I raised, for the first time in the history of my city, was the Pride flag. As mayor, I also had the power to officiate weddings, but I said I wouldn’t s until everyone had marriage equality. When I saw the violence against LGBTQ youth and staggering rates of LGBTQ youth homelessness in my city, I searched the country for models, brought
in experts, and started to make safe spaces for those kids. In the Senate, I am a proud leading sponsor of the Equality Act. As a presidential candidate, I will not allow the disproportionate number of fatal violent incidents against transgender Black women to go ignored. As your President and a lifelong ally on these issues, I will have a comprehensive agenda for the LGBTQ community on day one. This starts with building a team that is diverse and representative of the country we aim to serve. That includes an Attorney General who will fight to protect the rights and safety of LGBTQ Americans; and a Secretary of Education who actually taught in public schools and will stand up and protect every single one of our children, regardless of their gender identity or who they love. I will also repeal the despicable ban on transgender Americans serving in our military and bring about needed reforms to our veterans’ healthcare system. But this is work that the government cannot do alone. We all have an obligation to fight against the persistent injustices in our country, so that when we pledge allegiance to our flag and say the words “liberty and justice for all,” they are not aspirational, they are the truth and experience of the American people. GG: An important issue for the LGBTQ community is health care. How is your health care plan better than the other Democratic proposals? Health care is a human right, and we should be doing everything in our power to guarantee that right for every American. Second, health care isn’t just about treating illness, and it’s about making sure that every American is mentally and physically taken care of so they can go to school, go to work, and contribute to their communities. That is why I’m a co-sponsor of Medicare for All, which I believe is the best way to provide guaranteed, quality health care for every American. I am also the only member of the United States Senate who goes home to a low-income, inner-city community, and I know that for my neighbors who are paying too much of their income for care or prescriptions – choosing to go without or rationing medication – they cannot wait for progress. On the path to Medicare for All, I’m going to act immediately by doing things like lowering the cost of prescription drugs and lowering the eligibility age for Medicare to 55 years old. I would also roll back the Trump Administration’s efforts to strip access to healthcare and give license to discriminate against women and LGBTQ Americans. I will fully fund Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides crucial reproductive care. GG: Another essential issue is gender identity. Is someone’s birth gender identity his or her permanent legal
gender, in your opinion? I believe that all Americans should have the freedom to live their lives authentically and that their gender identities should be affirmed by the government – not erased. Official documentation that accurately reflects one’s gender identity is legally significant and can help protect the person from harassment and discrimination. If any American’s gender marker on legal documentation doesn’t match their gender, they should be able to update the document, plain and simple. GG: Is there something more you would like to add about your campaign for the Democratic nomination that’s not covered in any of the above questions? As a candidate running for president of the United States, I am blessed to have a platform to call attention that too often go overlooked. One of those issues is violence against transgenderAmericans. Already this year, at least 19 transgender Americans have been murdered--many of them trans women of color. It is a crisis. As I recently wrote in The Advocate(editors note-reprinted with the permission of the Booker campaign): And this crisis is a crisis of silence. Silence in school, at work, in our neighborhoods. Itis thesilence that happens when any act of discrimination or bigotry goes unchallenged.Today, just like generations before us, we must speak out in a chorus of conviction and take urgent action. We must start by undoing the damage the Trump administration has done, starting with reversing the immoral ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. That means a Department of Education that protects all of our children — no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. And that means a Department of Justice led by an attorney general who stands up against employment discrimination and prosecutes hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law. But we cannot stop there. We know that violence against the transgender community, and trans women of color in particular, is not new. According to the University of North Carolina, the life expectancy for the average trans woman of color is 35, and according to the Human Rights Campaign, 128 transgender people were killed over a five-year period between 2013 and 2018. The American Medical Association has rightly called this crisis an “epidemic of violence against the transgender community, especially the amplified physical dangers faced by transgender people of color.”We must strengthen laws so that survivors of hate crimes can access justice and heal, reformour policing practices so that all people are protected and feel safe seeking police assistance,and improve data collection so that our public policies accurately reflect the lives and meet theneeds of transgender people. We must pass the Equality Act into law — to ensure that all people are protected by federal nondiscrimination law enshrined in the Civil Rights Act. And we must address the many other challenges that disproportionately impact
transgender people — from closing disparities in employment and wages that undermine economic security to improving access to safe, affordable housing and removing barriers to quality, affordable health care. We have so much work to do, but we cannot remain silent in the face of this crisis. Ralph Ellison once wrote, “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” We must see the truth of this crisis. We must see our trans community. We must speak up. And we must act, from the White House to Congress, in every community and on every block. Lives depend on it. Additional campaign information can be found athttps://corybooker.com/ GG
Businessperson Andrew Yang GG: In a recent Iowa poll, you did not receive very much support in the poll. Are you concerned about the low name recognition? Andrew Yang: We were thrilled to be included in CNN’s first poll of Iowa Caucus voters a few weeks ago, which showed that I had the same rate of top-level support as Kirsten Gillibrand, Eric Holder, and Tom Steyer. Seventeen percent of likely caucus voters knew who I was enough to have developed a strong opinion. Our message is working. We have a long way to go, but to have reached this point in 2018 is remarkable. We are achieving awareness levels far beyond our resources. Don’t get me wrong, though – we certainly need your and the entire LGBTQ community’s help to build on this success. We opened up our first office in Iowa last month. I am heading there for the 9th time at the end of January. On Jan. 30, we are having a Townhall with the LGBTQ community at the Iowa City Public Library at 5:30 pm, followed by an event at Prairie Lights at 7pm. Local press will be there. We are punching way above our weight class. We can change the course of history as long as we fight together.
GG: Why should the LGBTQ community support you? Many folks in the LGBTQ community tell me I’m running on the most pro-LGBTQ presidential platform they’ve ever seen. My Iowa Campaign Coordinator dropped out of law school to work for me in part because he knows personally how transformative Universal Basic Income would be for the LGBTQ community. As he put it, the promise of “It Gets Better” is hollow without the promise of financial security in the case your family or community rejects you for who you are. The LGBTQ community is tragically overrepresented among foster children, the homeless, the poor, and the food-insecure. LGBTQ kids are kicked out by their parents at a higher rate than the general population. Fifteen percent of transgender people, and more than 30 percent of trans people of color, are living in severe poverty. The Freedom Dividend (which is how I’ve rebranded Universal Basic Income because it tests better with our conservative friends) would disproportionately benefit LGBTQ youth, especially LGBTQ kids of color, and give them the freedom to live full, authentic lives. The most direct and concrete way for the government to improve the lives of the LGBTQ community is to send you a check for $1,000 every month and let you spend it in whatever manner will benefit you the most. The government is not capable of a lot of things, but it is capable of sending large numbers of checks to large numbers of people promptly and reliably. We have plenty of resources, and they’re just not being distributed to enough people right now. We need to build a new kind of economy – one that puts people first. If there’s one policy that would transform the lives of LGBTQ Americans for the better, it is Universal Basic Income. I would, of course, also fight to extend legal nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. Sexual orientation and gender identity should be protected classes under the law, receiving all the federal protections afforded under the Constitution and civil rights law. GG: An important issue for the LGBTQ community is health care. How is your health care plan better than the other Democratic proposals? Healthcare should be a fundamental right for all Americans. I am for a Medicare for all. For more information, visit www. yang2020.com. GG
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar GG: Can you win the Iowa Caucuses? Well, I’m your Senator next door, and as I like to say, I can see Iowa from my porch! I understand the Midwest, and I’ve been down to Iowa early and often. My plan is to go everywhere because I believe we need to talk to people all over the state. In Minnesota, I’ve won blue, purple, and the reddest of the red counties, and I’ve been successful because I listen, I meet people where they are, I hear about the things they need, and I get things done. We’re going to do the same thing in Iowa and across the country. GG: Are you actively seeking the LGBTQ vote in Iowa and nationally? Yes. The LGBTQ community is going to be critical if Democrats are going to win in 2020, and that’s because the LGBTQ community knows how to win. In 2009 the Iowa Supreme Court made Iowa one of the first states in the nation to recognize same-sex marriage. And today, there are also more LGBTQ elected officials than ever before. Look at 2018, when we elected my friend Angie Craig, who was running to be the first openly gay member of Congress from Minnesota. We re-elected my nextdoor neighbor Tammy Baldwin. And we also elected over 150 LGBTQ candidates across the country, more than any previous election! GG: Why should someone who is gay, lesbian, transgender, or questioning vote for you for President? I believe that we need a President who has the backs of the LGBTQ community, and not a President who wakes up every morning trying to divide our country. We must cross the river of our divides, walk across the sturdy bridge of our democracy to a higher plane in the politics. And that includes fighting for the transgender person who wants to serve, or go to school, or just go out in their neighborhood, without fear. It includes fighting for the young gay man looking for his first apartment or his first job and fighting for the two moms who want to protect their family. And As your President, I will focus on getting things done. I have released a plan of more than 100 actions I will take during my first 100 days as President, and it includes priorities like combating hate crimes, lifting the ban preventing transgender people from serving in the military, and addressing homelessness, suicide and access to life-saving drugs in the LGBTQ community. I will also reverse the harmful anti-LGBTQ administrative actions taken by the Trump Administration when it comes to education, health care, and civil rights, and work to pass the Equality Act in year
one of my presidency. GG: The LGBTQ community remembers the Orlando shooting at The Pulse Night Club. What is your plan to combat gun violence? Gun violence in America has cut short, far too many lives, torn families apart, and plagued communities across the country. From the shooting in Orlando to the recent tragedies in El Paso and Dayton to the everyday gun violence that takes the lives of the equivalent of a classroom of school children every week, it’s clear that gun safety policies are long overdue. I support a package of proposals including putting universal background checks in place by closing the gun show loophole, banning bump stocks, high capacity ammunition feeding devices and assault weapons, [continued on next page] closing the “Charleston loophole” and passing my bill to close the “boyfriend loophole.” Right now, federal law says if you’re convicted of abusing your wife, you can’t get a gun; if it’s your girlfriend, you can. My bill to close the boyfriend loophole has passed the House of Representatives and has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate -- it’s time to get it done. For too long, those who side with the NRA have blocked necessary reforms that save lives. I went to the White House and sat across the table from him to make a case for gun safety laws after Parkland. I kept track. Nine times he said he wanted universal background checks. Then the next day, he met with the NRA and folded. As your President, I won’t fold. The recent mass shootings were also disturbing reminders of the rise in hate in this country. I have been taking on hate crimes and combating hate since I was the Hennepin County Attorney. Because of my work on this issue as County Attorney, I was invited to the White House when President Bill Clinton proposed the Matthew Shepard federal hate crimes bill. In the Senate, I have continued to be a leader when it comes to taking on hate. And as President, I will end the hateful rhetoric that has become all too routine during the Trump Administration, and I will prioritize combating hate-motivated violence and domestic terrorism, including against the LGBTQ community. GG: Healthcare is another critical issue. Please tell us about your plan to improve and make our healthcare system better for all? Too many Americans struggle to pay for health care and their prescription drugs. I believe the Affordable Care Act is a beginning, not an end, and we need to make changes on both the state and federal level to bring down health care costs. That includes bringing down the cost of health care for everyone by putting a non-profit public option in place that allows people to buy into affordable health insurance coverage through Medicare or Medicaid. I have fought the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care
Act. Before the Affordable Care Act was passed, LGBTQ people who were denied coverage had nowhere to turn, people living with HIV/AIDS couldn’t afford the prescription drugs they needed, and transgender people were flat-out denied care. We can’t let the Trump Administration take us backward. When people are sick, their focus should be on getting better, rather than on how they can afford their prescriptions, yet drug prices are an increasing burden across our country. I have been a strong advocate for tackling the high costs of prescription drugs, leading proposals to lift the ban on Medicare negotiations for prescription drugs, allow personal importation of safe drugs from countries like Canada, and stop pharmaceutical companies from blocking less-expensive generics. And as President, I’ll get this done. GG: Is there anything more you would like to share with the GoGuide readers about your platform for President? One issue that we’re not talking about enough as a country is how we can support our rural areas. And this directly impacts the LBGTQ community -- between 3 million and 4 million LGBTQ people live in rural America. I firmly believe that kids who grow up in rural America and rural Iowa should be able to live there. That’s why I released a plan to help close the rural-urban divide and address some of the unique challenges facing rural areas. My plan is about expanding rural health care — including mental health and addiction treatment — saving rural hospitals, supporting critical access hospital and community health centers, and dramatically expanding telehealth services. It’s about making it easier for workers to housing and education and investing in our rural infrastructure, expanding rural broadband, and ending the digital divide. Follow Senator Klobuchar at www.AmyKlobuchar.com. GG
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Former Congressman John Delaney GG: Do you feel good about where you’re at as we get close to the Iowa caucuses? Are you all in for the Iowa Caucuses? We are all in for Iowa. My strategy is to grind it out, work harder, and talk about things that make sense. We have eight campaign offices around the state, and my staff and I are campaigning everywhere, especially in rural areas. I’m the first Democratic Presidential candidate to visit all 99 counties in a decade, and I’m proud to have the support of Iowa Democratic County chairs in Mills, Wayne, Lucas and Van Buren counties. GG: Do you plan to actively seek the LGBTQ vote in Iowa in preparation for the Caucus? Absolutely. I’m proud to have been a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus in Congress and to have earned “I always love coming an A rating from the Equality Coalition. At the Iowa Safe Schools Governors’ Conference earlier this year, my to Iowa,” Congressman staff and I shared a few of my policy positions including Delaney banning conversion therapy. Thirty-five states have no ban on the inhumane practice, including Iowa. We must strengthen employment non-discrimination laws. Laws that explicitly protect sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are not in place in over 27 states. GG:An important issue for the LGBTQ community is health care. How is your health care plan better than the other Democratic proposals? We must do more to improve access to healthcare, including mental health services, for all LGBT communities. The average life expectancy of trans women of color is just 35 years old. That is unacceptable. We must do better to serve our most vulnerable communities. I believe health care is a human right, and mental health care should be on par with physical health care. My universal health care plan builds upon the success of the Affordable Care Act, including guaranteed coverage for preexisting conditions and essential health benefits, and creates a new plan for calls for coverage similar to Medicaid for all people age 65 and younger, with additional optional supplemental plans that people can choose if they see fit. I would keep Medicare in place for people age 65 and older. For more information on his campaign and for information on upcoming visits to the state of Iowa visit https://www.johndelaney.com/states/iowa/. GG
Marianne Williamson GG: Do you feel good about where you’re at this close tothe Iowa caucus? Are you all in for the Iowa Caucuses? I do feel strong about my position in Iowa. I was the first candidate to have a virtual captain assigned for all 99 counties in Iowa. I have also moved to Iowa in order to better understand the needs of all Iowans, doing small geoup meetings in cities and towns all across the state. Doing so has not only affected me as a candidate, it has affected me as a citizen of this country. It is so important to be on the ground and to see the very real fears, frustrations, and aspirations of those in this beautiful community. GG: Do you plan to actively seek the LGBTQ vote in Iowa in preparation for the Caucus? I plan to not only seek, but to actively earn support from the LGBTQ community throughout this nation. I learned a great deal when I sat down with Nate and his team at Iowa Safe Schools about the struggles Iowan LGBTQ students face everyday and will continue this dialogue with them and other groups hopefully into the White House. GG: Why should the LGBTQ community support you in the Iowa Caucus for President? In a very real sense, the LGBTQ community gave me my career. When the AIDS crisis hit America, it was this community that first truly listened to my message of forgiveness, healing, and miracles. There are few other subsets of American culture with the same level of insight, sensitivity, and spiritual and political muscle as the LGBTQ community, and it is through their eyes that I still see so much of the world. I have stood with and for this community since the beginning of my involvement in the public eye, and many of my proudest achievements have been with them. Project Angelfood being just one. This is not a community that I curry favor with because it serves me from time to time. This is a community to which I have been loyal for my entire career. My proposals when it comes to the issues that relate most closely to this community are too lengthy to summarize - I ask that you please go to my website: https://www.marianne2020.com/issues/lgbtq-rights, for more. GG: An important issue for the LGBTQ community is health care. How is your health care plan better than the other Democratic proposals? I believe that my health care plan, like most of my policy positions, is more holistic
than others. The biggest problem with America’s health care system is that it is not a health care system so much as a sickness care system. It reflects an outdated perspective on health and healing, in which far too little attention is given to the actual cultivation of health and prevention of disease. Unlike others who are running for President, I believe that we need a shift to a genuine health care system, that would involve attention to environmental, agricultural, chemical and nutritional factors which America’s current corporate-dominated system of governance would presumably resist. I believe that if America is to deal with our serious issues involving chronic disease and obesity, we must look deeply at the causes of disease and not simply their treatment. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency needs to have its power restored as protector of our environment and thus our health. The Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act must be restored in full, and bans on dangerous pesticides once again vigorously established and enforced. Genetically engineered food should be labeled. The Food and Drug Administration needs to have its power restored, so that it can once again guard the American people from toxic substances that should not be on our shelves. And our children’s food, particularly school lunches, should be far more filled with healthy ingredients. Until America comes to terms with how much we have acquiesced to the many unhealthy practices that should be considered unlawful -- but which are currently allowed in order to increase corporate profits -- we will continue to have a less-than-meaningful discussion of how as a society we provide health care. Another important issue is gender identity. Is someone’s birth gender identity his or her permanent legal gender in your opinion? Of course not. Please add anything you would like to share with Iowa’s LGBTQ+ communities. All I would add at this point is, I ask this community not to be a single-issue voting community. Yes, 100%, demand that the people you support support you. But I say this to every community - we are not a country of individual concerns - we are a nation of universal concerns. There is so much work to be done, and we have to it all together. And thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your prayers, your donations, and your love. Together, we can transform America into what it is truly meant to be. More about Marianne Williamson can be found at https://www.marianne2020. com/my-story GG
Dear GoGuide Editors: America is running out of time to solve the most urgent challenges waiting on our nation’s doorstep. From health care and the economy to climate change and LGBTQ rights, Donald Trump and his administration have worsened the problems facing our country while dividing us in profound and harmful ways. Weneed a President with a vision for our country bold enough to meet the moment and unifying enough to bring us together to actually get it done.
That is why I am supporting Mayor Pete Buttigieg for President of the United States and will caucus for him on February 3, 2020. Mayor Pete has demonstrated that he has the leadership skills and vision to unite Americans around our shared set of values.
So many Americans are frustrated with Washington’s inaction on important issues from health care and the economy to gun safety and climate change. Pete will bring a new way of doing things to the White House. He is offering ideas bold enough to meet the challenges we face and big enough to bring people together to get them done. There is no end in sight to the lengths this administration will go discriminate against LGBTQ Americans. The Equality Act, would provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, passed the United States House of Representatives but is stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. In addition to the problems we will be facing at home, on the first day after the sun sets on the Trump presidency, our nation will need to begin to repair our relationships around the globe. As a veteran of Afghanistan, Pete has a unique understanding of the role America plays in leading the free world. And as president, Pete will restore our credibility on the world stage and keep our commitments to our allies. And on a personal note, as Iowa’s first openly gay State Senator I have seen the power of having a seat at the table. The LGBTQ community has this opportunity to help place Mayor Pete in the highest office in the land. I never dreamed that I would see this happen in my lifetime. I want to be clear, I am supporting and caucusing for Mayor Pete Buttigieg because he is the best candidate running for President. The fact that he has authored the most comprehensive and thoughtful LGBTQ platform in the entire field of candidates matters greatly to me. I hope you will join me in making history in Iowa by caucusing for Mayor Pete on February 3.
Polk County Supervisor and former Iowa State Senator Matt McCoy
Dear GoGuide Editors: The folks here in Iowa have a unique opportunity to hear from each presidential candidate up-close and personal. We get the chance to “handpick” our next Democratic nominee for President. Being married to a county chair, I have had the chance to listen and learn about each of these candidates more than most. Being a young, openly gay, entrepreneur, I knew it was not going to be easy for me to find a candidate that checked all of the boxes. In September, I attended the LGBTQ Forum in Cedar Rapids put on by One Iowa, GLADD, The Advocate, and the Gazette. Every candidate who took the stage showed why we need change, but only one stood out with a true message on his devotion and proven track record of standing up for people in the LGBTQ+ community and advancing civil rights for everyone -- that candidate was Cory Booker.
Cory Booker’s leadership as a former mayor of a large city and a U.S. Senator has not gone unnoticed. Cory has spent his entire career running towards big challenges, tackling them head on— that is why Senator Booker is the one best suited to both advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and be the President of the United States. When he was mayor of Newark, NewJersey, Cory refused to perform any marriage ceremony until same-sex couples were legally allowed to marry. He has also been one of the most outspoken leaders in the US Senate on Trump’s transgender military ban. I encourage you to take a look at Cory Booker, look at his record on these issues, listen to his passion and commitment to equality, give him a chance, you won’t go wrong. Cory Booker Has the Understanding to Lead with Love and Compassion.
Kale Smith, Dallas County LGBTQ Activist, husband of Bryce Smith, Dallas County Democrats Chair, small business owner.
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