A newsletter it is

I do not engage with social media very much because, well, mental health. As a Trans/BIPOC elected official in Iowa, I find that the internet is not a safe place for me. Cowardly? Maybe. I like to think of it as a gift I give myself everyday. If someone has something to say to me, they can call/text/email/tell it to my face. Or yell it out of a car window or from a third floor balcony (here’s the account of that experience). These are the reasons why I have decided to take a more measured approach and break through some of the noise via yes, a newsletter. Tell me you were born in 1978 without telling me.

And what a day to launch, right?

Today marks the historic day when Iowa takes away it’s carved out of protections for transgender people in this state. We won’t be protected against housing discrimination, toxic work environments, and the truth is it’s also just a Tuesday in our great state. It’s a new day for transgender visibility in Iowa - one that marks us with a target on our back.

I also learned this morning from our County Recorder, Kim Painter, that the state is now requiring people to mark their gender when applying for a marriage license. This on top of the law that now prevents us from changing our gender markers on our birth certificates. This is just the state’s usual ‘power and control’ of our bodies. Talk about a nanny state. We can’t work with doctors to provide medical care for our trans kids, they can’t use bathrooms without fear of being bullied. The list goes on and on.

And it takes courage, right? Just to be ourselves.

So here I am. And here’s my newsletter.

Here are three things I’m currently working on and will provide regular updates moving forward:

1. Protecting our manufactured housing residents from predatory out-of-state owners. I am a firm believer that safe, decent, and affordable housing is a human right. Our manufactured housing neighborhoods (mobile home parks) are some of the last bastions of actually affordable housing in our County. Johnson County has the highest rental/home-ownership costs in the state, so we have a lot of work to do as a local government to put our thumb on the scale and make housing more affordable for everyone. I have been meeting with local community leaders and the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition to uplift the voices of residents and demand accountability from these park owners.

2. I established the Transgender Advisory Committee last year and we have been meeting monthly to find creative ways to keep trans Iowans safer in this county. Given the sensitive nature of this now not-protected-yet-incredibly-vulnerable-community, I am reluctant to report too much out of this working group, but if you are curious, I am happy to email/meet/talk on the phone with you, just reach out. What I will say is that it is a trans-community led committee focused on providing easier health care access and breaking down barriers to services for trans folx (which really, in the end, serve all Iowans when we do that!).

3. There has been recent news about Johnson County’s contract with the Linn County Juvenile Detention Facility to pay for beds to house young people from this county. I voted to not increase the number of beds that we pay for (to the tune of $$433,969 in 2025) and instead have started the task of putting together a Juvenile Detention Task Force to investigate how we can prioritize more funding towards diversionary practices. I’m meeting with community leaders and elected officials now to see who should be on that task force, so more soon on the evolution of it.

I’m still figuring out how to do this, but in case you’re curious, here’s some folx I’m reading and listening to:

adrienne maree brown is someone I turn to time and time again, she’s a truth seeker and lighthouse for our generation and future generations. She has a podcast with her sister Autumn called ‘How to Survive the End of the World’. I listen and share this podcast often and encourage you to support them! Her third book in the Grievers trilogy just came out and it is a must read.

A local heroine of mine is Lyz Lenz. Her newsletter ‘Men Yell at Me’ is a must read for any kind of levity amidst the dumpster fire atmosphere of this country. Her Dingus of the Week has gotten me through some tough state-led BS with tear-filled laughter. She’s also an acclaimed author and her last book, ‘This American Ex-Wife’ was a New York Times Bestseller. She also throws a killer potato party when accidentally ordering more than she anticipated online.

That’s all I have for now. If you have any thoughts or questions/comments please do reach out to me. My email is vfixmeroraiz@johnsoncountyiowa.gov and my office phone number is 319-356-6000.

maraming salamat,

V

This is a photo of me and my wife, Natalie at the UAT Festival of Flowers 2025 Fundraiser. Her band The Left Togethers played the event and it was super fun!!