By Butch Barbie
NOW held its annual membership conference in Las Vegas July 10-13. The conference was hybrid, with elections and plenaries streaming on Zoom. Issue hearings and workshops were also held but not streamed to virtual attendees.
For the first time in recent memory, a caucus of radical feminists pushed 2 resolutions through issue hearings for a vote by the membership. A third resolution passed by petition with 35 signatures. The group was surprised that the resolutions passed were the most ‘controversial’—Single Sex Prisons and Online Age Verification for Pornography through the issue hearings, and Lesbian Only Spaces by petition. The next step would have been a floor vote by the members on Sunday, the last day of the conference.
Unfortunately that day never came. Elections were held for a new President and Vice President on Saturday afternoon. Normally the candidates are advised of the results Saturday evening and officially announced Sunday morning. Instead, Sunday morning the conference was cancelled by parliamentarian Lynette Henley, who stood on stage with Elections Committee co-chair Rosa Colquitt and outgoing VP Bear Atwood. Citing unnamed (and still unproven) ‘third parties’ interfering with the election, and lack of quorum (untrue and quorum was not challenged), Henley declared the conference void. Atwood then adjourned the conference.
This unexpected turn of events was met with outrage by those present and online as well. When a board member challenged the Parliamentarian, she was screamed at and threatened by VP Candidate Triana Arnold James to keep away. Members ended up gathering for strategy sessions which continued for 2 weeks.
After a secret board meeting convened by outgoing President Christian Nunes who falsely claimed the election was hacked, the Election Committee finally revealed the results of the officer election. The winning slate with 76.9% of the vote was Kim Villanueva for President and Rose Brunache for Vice President. Rose is a young African American radical feminist from the Washington DC chapter. Kim, an out Latina lesbian from Illinois, is a longstanding NOW member who has served at nearly every level in the organization and is willing to open up dialogue on our issues.
As for the resolutions, the normal procedure is for the national board to vote on them at their next meeting if they hadn’t been voted on at the conference. Since nothing was normal about this conference, we will have to wait until the September board meeting to see what happens.
Thank you for this article. Elections Committee co-chair Rosa Colquitt was onstage when the coup occurred. She should never be allowed to be on the NOW board. And I hope that the board will launch a forensic audit of the lavish conference and the election.
Just a note that the resolutions noted above and a dozen or so other resolution topics are scheduled to be addressed at the National NOW Board meeting online THIS WEEKEND. I believe there is still time to register to attend & get the link.
There is a limited time slot to hear directly from members on the agenda & lots of opportunity to contribute thoughts & ideas in the chat throughout the meeting.
Kelly in Oregon