Kal Penn Holds Court in the Land of the Drag Kings: Iowa City Daily News Links, April 11

Alright, I cheated and had a little bit of coffee this morning to keep me going. Quitting cold turkey was probably a bit too ambitious...

On to the links!

From this Site

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From Other Sites

Hannah Kramer of the Daily Iowan has a nice article up on the growth of Drag King culture in Iowa City.

Meredith Hines-Dochterman of the Gazette writes about an interesting project trying to challenge gender norms with coloring books.

Lee Hermiston of the Press-Citizen writes about a client of Reach for your Potential Inc., a disabilities services company, suing the company for allegedly failing to protect her from being sexually assaulted by another client.

Celebrity and Obama campaign supporter Kal Penn met with more than 100 students at a pro Obama rally in Iowa City yesterday, writes Mitch Schmidt of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Schmidt also writes that the Library Bar's short experiment with a split-age venue has already been abandoned.

Teen pregnancy rates continue to fall in Iowa, writes Steve Gravelle of the Gazette.

Ashton Kutcher is financing a tech start up. What could go wrong?

People are still clamoring for multi-family housing in North Liberty, writes Lori Lidner of the North Liberty Leader.

Full body scanners have arrived at the Eastern Iowa Airport.

Molly's Cupcakes may be getting a loan to help start up this summer.

Daily Links Excerpt (of the Day)

The IC Kings exists as an entertainment outlet for many people in the gay community to come together. But the Kings' members say they have a mission to use their craft as a way to make a larger statement.

"This drag-king troupe, and all the drag that's happening, wherever it's happening, creates a queer space," Davis said. "[It creates] a queer presence in the community and a way for queer people interested in gender bending to have a safe space."

The group's performances also have a tangible effect on the LGBT community in Iowa. The troupe donates proceeds from shows to such charities as the Trevor Project and Iowa Safe Schools. These organizations defend the equal treatment of children who suffer from bullying.

"The drag world intersects with the queer world and gender play," Green said. "We have the opportunity now and a captive audience who agrees with our mentality about these issues to send messages of equality, rather than just jumping like a monkey and lip-synching like Fred Durst."

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