The Daily Iowan WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2024
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COMMUNITY SINCE 1868
DAILYIOWAN.COM
Marriage equality 15 years later
Exactly 15 years after legalization, some LGBTQ+ Iowans are still worried about the future. Isabelle Foland News Editor isabelle-foland@uiowa.edu
Emily Nyberg | The Daily Iowan Jen and Dawn BarbouRoske make dinner at their home in Iowa City on April 1. The two were legally married July 12, 2009, after Iowa legalized same-sex marriage. Previously, they had a wedding ceremony on Oct. 12, 1990.
INSIDE
When Jen and Dawn BarbouRoske first met on a softball team in Grinnell, Iowa, the two said it was the sentimental kind of love that is only seen in romantic comedies. “It was one of those sorts of goofy love at first sight, it really was for both of us,” Dawn BarbouRoske said. “We would just hang out, looking at the stars, and I mean, it was pretty sappy.” As the years went by and their love for each other grew, the BarbouRoskes eventually got married — not once, but twice. Their first wedding was just between the two of them in October 1990, and they exchanged rings without any big ceremony or family and friends. This first wedding was not legally recognized because of one reason: The BarbouRoskes are a lesbian couple. After moving across the country for Dawn BarbouRoske’s job, the BarbouRoskes eventually settled back down in Iowa — specifically in Iowa City — to begin to raise their first child around 2001. Soon after, the couple found themselves as plaintiffs in Varnum v. Brien, the Iowa Supreme Court case that legally recognized samesex marriage in the state. As their family grew, the BarbouRoskes said there were many legal hoops they had to jump through at each new milestone. For example, when Jen BarbouRoske gave birth to her first child, the BarbouRoskes had to sign multiple papers and meet with a counselor to jointly adopt their child. Despite many bureaucratic setbacks, though, the BarbouRoskes built a strong, accepting community around their family. The couple formed the Proud Families group shortly after moving to Iowa City, which consisted of local members of the LGBTQ+ community and their children.
MARRIAGE | 2A
Iowa City’s aging population grows
Longer life expectancies and low fertility rates are widening the age gap. Grace Olson News Reporter
grace-olson@uiowa.edu
Final Four Preview: Iowa advances to Cleveland The Hawkeyes are moving on to play in the Final Four. Look ahead to see the rosters of Iowa’s competition. SPORTS | 1B
Iowa lawmakers assess tuition solutions Could a tuition cap be the solution to the rising cost of college? EPI | 4A
Highlighting big and small talent Iowa City venues are prepping for the Mission Creek Festival, which kicks off April 4. 80 HOURS | 1C
ONLINE • See in-depth coverage of Iowa’s Final Four matchup of the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament against UConn on April 7 in Cleveland, Ohio at dailyiowan.com. • Listen to the latest
episodes of The Daily Iowan’s two podcasts, Above the Fold and Press Box Banter, where reporters cover the latest news and talk sports at dailyiowan.com.
As Iowa’s older person population increases, experts say the state will face new political, social, and economic consequences. University of Iowa researchers found that Iowa currently has the largest percentage of adults over the age of 80 nationwide. By 2030, more Iowans will be 65 years old or older than 18 years old or younger. According to the 2022 Iowa City census, 13 percent of Iowa City’s population is over the age of 65. Brian Kaskie, UI professor of health management and policy in the College of Public Health, said this trend is a result of improved health care, which led to longer life expectancies since every county in the state of Iowa has a hospital and nursing facility, so the older population is well taken care of. “If you’re born today, you can easily expect to live to the age of 85,” Kaskie said. However, Kaskie said because younger generations tend to have fewer children and the fertility rate in Iowa has dropped by seven percent in the last 10 years, the burden of such a large population of older adults will be expensive. Additionally, he said there are fewer young people to support the elderly and check in on them so nursing and hospital urgent care facilities are being used when they are not necessary. Kaskie said the younger generations are then responsible for paying for Medicare and Social Security to fund hospital visits and nursing home stays. “Who do you think’s going to pay for all these old people?” Kaksie said. “You don’t want them spending on health care when they don’t need it.
Sahithi Shankaiahgari | The Daily Iowan The Senior Center’s singing group sings during a Lyrics Alive event at the Iowa City Senior Center on April 1. According to the 2022 Iowa City census, 13 percent of the city’s population is over 65 years old. It’s super expensive. Young people really should think about how they’re going to get fleeced.” Kaskie said one factor that aids in fewer hospital visits is the Iowa Return to Community program, launched in 2019 to mitigate this issue and help transition older people back to their homes after surgeries or hospital stays. The program uses social workers who go to doctor’s offices to see a patient’s home and ensure they have access to assistance with daily
tasks, such as feeding a dog or taking a shower. This way, older people aren’t reinjuring themselves trying to do things alone and winding up back in the hospital and using more taxpayer money. “Those places are supposed to be there to take care of people with really serious nursing problems,” Kaskie said. “They’re not there just
AGE | 3A
IC nonprofit supports Indigenous communities The Great Plains Action Society distributed buffalo meat to Indigenous people in Iowa.
Emma Jane News Reporter
daily-iowan@uiowa.edu
A lifelong passion for justice fuels Iowa City resident Sikowis Nobiss, a member of Plains Cree/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan. “I feel like my ancestors put something in me where I have always been somebody that feels very strongly about social and environmental justice,” Nobiss, founder of the Great Plains Action Society, said. Nobiss moved to Iowa City for graduate school and recognized a need in the community for Indigenous spaces and representation. “After I graduated I felt lonely,” Nobiss said. “I knew that we needed a voice for Native
people here.” Nobiss found her footing as a local activist during the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016, challenging the construction of an oil pipeline that threatened water resources and sacred tribal sites throughout the Dakotas and Iowa. Protests of the pipeline eventually concentrated at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Nobiss brought an Indigenous perspective to the forefront of the fight in Iowa, bridging the gap with rural landowners who also opposed the pipeline. “I decided that we needed more resistance in Iowa,” Nobiss said. She established Little Creek Camp, a traditional healing space and action center for water protectors. The camp evolved into the
Great Plains Action Society in 2017, an Indigenous-run nonprofit that works to amplify and empower Indigenous voices in Iowa. The Great Plains Action Society’s mission goes beyond efforts for education and acknowledgment of historical trauma. The organization actively works to empower Indigenous communities by reclaiming traditional practices and connection to the land and its creatures, a facet of what Nobiss calls “reMatriation.” Putting their vision into practice, the Great Plains Action Society partnered with Water Panther Consulting and the Intertribal Buffalo Council in February to hold their first buffalo harvest initiative. Working with three buffalo gifted by the
NONPROFIT | 3A