As some of you may know, the Minnesota NOW State Board recently voted to co-sponsor an event called SlutWalk Minneapolis, to be held on October 1, 2011.  For a quick primer on the global SlutWalk movement, allow me to quote from a column I wrote on the subject that appears in this month’s issue of the Minnesota Women’s Press:

“…in January of 2011, a Toronto police officer named Michael Sanguinetti told a group of college students that ‘women should avoid looking like sluts in order not to be victimized.’  What began as a grassroots plan to protest the police attracted widespread attention (due in no small part to the action’s purposely confrontational name), and an estimated 1500 people gathered on April 3, 2011 to raise awareness of sexual stereotypes and the persistence of victim-blaming in Canadian society.  Since then, SlutWalks have been replicated in London, Stockholm, and Sao Paulo, with walks in the works in Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.”

Since one of Minnesota NOW’s core values is freedom from violence, our participation in an event whose goal is to end the silence about rape culture seemed natural.  After all, Minnesota NOW has participated in Take Back the Night marches and sexual violence speak-outs of many different kinds in the past.

Yet there remains a great deal of controversy over the prominent use of the word “slut” in conjunction with a feminist event.  Perhaps the most widely read essay on the subject, a piece by Rebecca Traister with the blunt title “Ladies, We Have a Problem,” appeared in the New York Times Magazine on July 20, 2011.  Many in our own local feminist community have raised vocal objections to the event, with criticisms ranging from offense to the name, to concern that walkers will be subject to harassment.

I assure you, our members and supporters, that the decision to participate in this event was not made lightly.  We take your membership dues and additional financial support very seriously.  We met directly with the director of SlutWalk Minneapolis, Kimberia Sherva, and considered the issue before a full meeting of the State Board.  We concluded that the SlutWalk movement was an important part of reframing the societal discussion around sexual violence.  For too long, the message has remained “here’s what to do to not get raped.”  It’s time that changed to “DON’T RAPE.”

I thank you for your continued support of Minnesota NOW, and I hope to see you on the Minneapolis riverfront on October 1.

For equality,

Shannon Drury

Minnesota NOW President

August 25, 2011

ON WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY 2011, MINNESOTA NOW CALLS ON SENS. KLOBUCHAR AND FRANKEN TO CO-SPONSOR NEW LEGISLATION TO RESTART EFFORT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, the annual observance of the day in 1920 that women were granted the right to vote.  On Friday, August 26, 2011, the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for Women (MN NOW) is calling on Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to be Senate co-sponsors of House Joint Resolution 47, the bill that seeks to remove the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The Equal Rights Amendment, approved by Congress in 1972, was defeated in 1982 when three states failed to ratify it before a deadline included in an accompanying proposing clause.  Not all proposed constitutional amendments include a time limit for ratification; indeed, the 27^th Amendment, regarding Congressional salaries, was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1993.  “I am certain the senators agree that the constitutional rights of half our nation’s population ought not be subjected to an arbitrary deadline either,” said Minnesota NOW President Shannon Drury.

The text of the Equal Rights Amendment, as drafted by Alice Paul in 1920, reads: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.  Though our society is certainly far more egalitarian than in Paul’s day, Justice Antonin Scalia told a reporter in January that the Constitution does not, in fact, protect women from legal discrimination.  Finally ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment would change that.  It would also send a powerful message to our daughters that they are worthy of legal recognition in the organizing document of our nation and society.

“Foremothers like Paul fought for my right to vote, the milestone that we celebrate on Women’s Equality Day,” says Drury.  “An Equal Rights Amendment would ensure my six-year-old daughter Miriam’s right to equality under federal law.” Adds MN NOW Vice President Barbra Peterson, “Our state’s current Senators should follow in the footsteps of Minnesota’s previous ERA champions in the Senate, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, by co-sponsoring this legislation.”

FFI:

http://www.now.org/issues/constitution/index.html

http://www.united4equality.com/

Calling all designers!  Minnesota NOW is searching for a fun, clever, FEMINIST T-shirt that we can wear to our full slate of upcoming events.  When I warned VP Barbra that it might be too much to ask for designs by MONDAY, JUNE 13, she scoffed and said that feminists can do anything.   If you know Barbra, you know she means business.  So get designing, friends!

To give you an idea of what we’re looking for in a shirt, check out this information, from our website: www.mnnow.org:

The Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for Women was formed in 1971.   Forty years later, our mission remains the same: to take action to bring women into the mainstream of American society NOW, to exercise all privileges and responsibilities thereof, in truly equal partnership with men.

MN NOW has actively worked to change the political, social, economic and cultural landscape for women in Minnesota. Our primary emphases are:

• Constitutional Equality
• Reproductive rights (including repeal of all laws restricting safe, legal abortion)
• Lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender rights
• Eliminating racism
• Freedom from violence
• Economic justice (including opposition to punitive welfare reform)

We want a shirt that will wear well at the State Capitol, PRIDE, SlutWalk Minneapolis, Pro-Choice Lobby Day, and the countless other events across Minnesota that feature our members.  And it can be any color, not just green!

THE WINNER of the contest will receive a free t-shirt, a big boost to your design resume, our undying gratitude, and publicity via our website, this blog, our beloved Facebook page, and the social media accounts of everyone we know.

Send those entries to us at: mnnowcontest at gmail dot com  by MONDAY JUNE 13!  Tell ‘em Barbra sent you!

Minnesota NOW is outraged that in the 2011 session the Minnesota legislature, with bipartisan support, passed bills restricting women’s fundamental rights.

The two bills dealing with women’s access to abortion services are un-Minnesotan.  The first bill, which effectively bans abortion after the 20^th week from fertilization, would have stopped abortions before viability in direct violation of women’s rights under Roe v Wade.  Additionally, this bill would have made it a felony for doctors to perform abortions after the 20^th week, forcing some women to have dangerous illegal abortions.  Minnesota cannot return to the days of back-alley butchers!

The second abortion bill, which limits state funding for abortion services for women with limited economic means with only rare exceptions, sets up an un-Minnesotan class system that says wealthy women have the right to healthcare and the right to control their bodies, but poor women do not.  In Minnesota, we support – not punish – the economically disadvantaged!

The amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution that would limit marriage to one man and one woman is out of line with Minnesota’s priorities. Far from being pro-family, this amendment will harm LGBT families and their children who are denied the legal protections of civil marriage.  In these days of heightened awareness of the consequences of bullying, we must be aware of the message this sends to Minnesota’s LGBT youth.  Discrimination should never be part of the Minnesota Constitution!

The bill that would have required Minnesotans to obtain a government issued photo ID before voting would have suppressed the vote in Minnesota – specifically for the elderly, the economically disadvantaged, the student population, and those who are highly mobile.  Just like property requirements, poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and other barriers to voting were eliminated long ago, this type of legislation should be relegated to the ash heap of history.  In Minnesota, we have a proud tradition of protecting the right to vote and high voter participation.  Minnesota NOW opposes any law that puts the right to vote in jeopardy.

Minnesota NOW thanks our state legislators who stood up for women’s right to have access to safe, legal abortions; the right to civil marriage; and the right to vote —and vows to fight the re-election of every legislator who voted against the human rights of Minnesotans.

With profound gratitude, Minnesota NOW thanks Governor Mark Dayton for doing all that he can to protect women’s fundamental rights.  Thank you, Governor Dayton, for vetoing the bills restricting women’s right to obtain safe, legal abortions; for symbolically vetoing the proposed Minnesota Constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples; and for vetoing the bill that would have suppressed voter participation in the State of Minnesota.

I am a Monty Python fan, and with every “he said what?” statement over the last year, I couldn’t help but picture King Arthur with clopping coconuts traversing the countryside in search of knights to help in his quest.

We all remember New York Rep. Peter King’s hearing that posed the question: why isn’t the American Muslim community doing anything to curb domestic terrorism? Kansas Rep. Pete De Graaf likening carrying a spare tire is like preparing for getting pregnant after being raped. Many times this year and last, I have heard that public assistance recipients should be sterilized, are nothing but lazy and dumb, and whores and sluts. Mr. Ben Stein, who is not the first man in this country to say “how do we know she’s telling the truth, he’s a respected man, she’s just doing this to get attention”.  Joe Soucheray made a recent statement that he’s “not a woman because he finds football dangerous” because his reader’s asked him if he was going to purchase frilly things.  Finally, that this is God’s country over and over again…..God’s country huh?  I’m sorry, but biased, bigoted, racist, opinions like these make me beg to differ. It also calls to question the following , since the Mr. Privileged Club continues to make “smack your forehead” type of statements:

Why aren’t rednecks doing anything to curb meth labs and trashy trailer parks?

Why aren’t Catholics doing anything to stop the pedophile problem?

Why aren’t teachers creating well behaved, smart children? 

Why aren’t old people doing anything about Alzheimer’s?

Why aren’t the poor curing poverty?

Why haven’t the disabled cured disability?

Why aren’t people of color fixing the racism problem?

Why aren’t white middle-aged men fixing the divorce problem (or should I say the cheating problem)?

Why haven’t women stopped domestic violence?

Why haven’t veterans cured the PTSD, homeless, and suicide epidemic?

Why haven’t little girls abolished the sex slave problem?

Why haven’t banks, car makers, and Wall Street fixed the economy?

Why aren’t students stopping the bullies?

So Mr. King, Mr. De Graaf, Mr. Soucheray, Mr. Stein, and many more of the “fear for your privilege!” group. You are master of your madness, emperor of your entitlement, lord of your lunacy, and king of your crap. But most of all, you are part of the conglomerate that refuses to learn from our history when we put Japanese and German Americans in internment camps, fought over the right to have slaves, whites were superior and therefore segregated, and pedophile priests still get away with crimes. Until this country learns from its history it will continue to repeat its hypocrisy. Until then, we get to listen to the the clip clop of coconuts and eventually the call of…..

That’s Gordy, obscuring himself with our Equal Marriage NOW round, at the capitol on OutFront MN’s LGBT Equality Day, April 14 2011.  Photo by Anne Hobson.

“The battle cry at this time is ‘We Have Just Begun To Fight!’ which was chanted late last night and early this morning after we lost the battle to stop the State Constitutional Amendment banning marriage for same sex couples from going on the 2012 ballot on a 70 to 62 house vote…. 3 Democrats voted for the Amendment – Dittrich, Stumpf, and Koenen, and 4 Republicans voted against the Amendment — Kelly, Kriesel, Murray, and Smith.  For the next 18 months there will be a campaign from the opponents of equality to vote YES with millions to potentially billions of dollars coming into the state of Minnesota from outside organizations.  We have to start planning and supporting the vote NO campaign.

A discussion of this 18 month campaign will be a part of the Minnesota NOW State Board meeting agenda on June 4, 2011.  We have to make history by being the first state to vote down this type of State Constitutional Amendment!”

ALL Minnesota NOW members, as well as interested friends, are welcome at our spring meeting.  We convene at 10 am that day at the Minnesota Women’s Building, 550 Rice Street St Paul MN 55103.  For further information, or to RSVP, please see our Facebook invitation:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183049658413195

Here’s a sampling of what’s being said at the Capitol, courtesy of The Uptake:

Sen. Ron Latz, speaking out against cutting Medicaid funding for women seeking abortions:

Sen. Barb Goodwin, wondering why the state is sticking its nose into other people’s private lives:

Sen. Linda Berglin, who points out that the poorest Minnesotans can’t afford the deductibles & copays proposed in new health care bills:

And the gone-viral superstar,  Sen. Steve Simon, who asked “how many gays does God have to make before we accept that he wants them around?”

It’s time to send words of gratitude to these four and the many, many others at the capitol who are fighting for justice for ALL Minnesotans at the capitol, bot just a lucky few.  You can search for these folks’ contact information via this link, where you can search by legislators’ names or by their districts: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/geninfo.aspx.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2010

MINNESOTA NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN (NOW) CONDEMNS PASSAGE OF H.R. 3, NO TAXPAYER FUNDING FOR ABORTION ACT, DENOUNCES ATTACK ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Yesterday’s passage of H. R. 3 in the House of Representatives is an outrageous attack on women’s civil rights, says Minnesota NOW State President Shannon Drury.  “Minnesotans should be appalled that Representatives Michele Bachmann, Chip Cravaack, John Kline, and Collin Peterson co-sponsored this legislation, and that Rep. Eric Paulsen joined them to vote for a bill that neither creates jobs nor helps a single Minnesota family during the worst recession in modern times.”

The so-called No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act goes much further than its deceptive title suggests. It would codify and dramatically expand a collection of federal abortion funding restrictions referred to as the Hyde Amendment. As acknowledged by the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), the goal of instituting and broadening these restrictions has always been to effectively overturn Roe v. Wade; targeting low-income women was Hyde’s opportunistic start. Now conservative lawmakers’ goal is to deny women at all income levels access to insurance coverage for abortion care.

Drury warns against making this issue a partisan one.  “I have already seen a fundraising message from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that attacks Republicans for this vote,” she says, “but sixteen Democrats voted for the bill’s passage.  Here at home, the Minnesota DFL Party Platform supports women’s reproductive rights, yet DFLer Peterson was a co-sponsor of and a yes vote for this bill.  Women’s rights, it seems, are seen as an easy political target for both parties.”

Since its founding in 1971, Minnesota NOW has opposed any legislation that interferes with a woman’s right to reproductive health care, which includes abortion.  Minnesota NOW also opposes the economic injustice inherent in H.R. 3, which will have the effect of barring poor women from accessing legal medical care available to women of means.

For further information:

www.mnnow.org

http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/

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