Publicity for SS

Super Skate is where I spent many Saturday & Sunday afternoons in elementary & junior high school, plus a crappy Wednesday night during college. I believe the owner's name was "Rex" when I used to go there. At the UNI football game at the UNI-Dome on Saturday, during the 1/2 time show, the UNI Marching Band played Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with a group of male singers - I think they were the UNI Glee Club, but I am not certain. Thinking about that song always takes me back to 7th grade when Renee W asked me to couple skate at Super Skate. During that skate, Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was played as I skated with Renee W around the rink. I remember that. However, I remember nothing about:

1. the conversation between Renee W and I (or if we even did talk)
2. with whom I had even gone to Super Skate with on that day
3. how many other tunes were played during our couple skate

I just know that Renee W knew how to couple skate - if you didn't know or if the girl you were going to couple skate with didn't know how to skate backwards, a couples skate was merely holding hands - and, I kid you not, Renee W asking me to couples skate that day was the first time I had ever skated with a girl who knew how to skate backwards. I never got the hang of how to do it. Maybe that is why "Total Eclipse of the Heart" will forever be associated with Renee W asking me to couples skate in 7th grade. It's a good memory.
It's still a good memory even after reading about two people breaking the rules of the business, as documented in this article: Crowds Protest After Super Skate Kicks Out Trans Teens, which includes this sentence:

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KCRG reported that the protest stemmed from a recent skating event where two transgender boys, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were asked to leave the roller rink while skating during a "boys only" skate session.

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Suddenly, my thoughts returned to Super Skate, but not because I was remembering Renee W asking me to couples skate in 7th grade at Super Skate, as I had done on Saturday. Instead I was thinking about these things:

1. The two transgender boys were skating during a "boys only" skate session which means, biologically, the two boys are girls. The session was for boys; they are girls. They are not supposed to be there because that is the way that Super Skate wanted to run their business that day.
2. To paraphrase Ben Shapiro, if I were to say "I'm a dog," do those words change my biology and make me a dog?
3. Two people went to a business and broke the rules, set by the business owner - whether it's Rex or someone who took over for Rex. There ought to be no apology by the business owner for running their business as they choose.

But already, that last point above seems to be what they want, as "An apology would be nice but I don't think it's going to justify what had happened on that night," one of the parents said."

I sincerely hope that Super Skate's business is not impacted by the protest, but given these words from the KCRG article, I doubt that will happen. Per Protesters gather outside Super Skate after transgender teens say they were kicked out, the rhetoric is ramping up with "Kat Power" already talking about "hate" and "safe space" for kids:

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"Sending the message that hate is not okay, and that we want a safe space for our kids to be able to go," said Kat Power, who also organized a "skate-in" for community members to show support Saturday night.
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"We are all part of this community and we all want to participate and we should all be treated with respect and dignity," Karma said.
"The community will be here for these young men and anybody else who faces discrimination," Karma said."
"Cedar Rapids will not tolerate that sort of behavior," Karma added.
TV9 made multiple attempts to speak with ownership from Super Skate both in person and over the phone, but a staff member declined to comment.

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Super Skate needs a public relations person to tell their story.