Author: feminist struggle

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM PLANNED FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1st: THE TRUTH ABOUT PEDIATRIC “GENDER AFFIRMING CARE” FEATURING WHISTLEBLOWER JAMIE REED

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Feminists In Struggle is proud to host JAMIE REED who will be providing an in depth educational presentation on Zoom about so-called “Gender Affirming Care” for minor children and its life-long negative impacts on them.  

The Educational event will take place on Saturday, February 1st at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time/2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/feminist-educational-the-truth-about-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-tickets-1114924201299?aff=oddtdtcreator

Jamie is one of the first public whistleblowers from a pediatric gender clinic in the United States. Her explosive first person account, “I thought I was saving trans kids, Now I am blowing the whistle” was published in The Free Press in February 2023. The story traveled the globe.

Jamie is now the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Courage Coalition, an American based nonprofit of lesbians and gay male adults seeking to reform youth gender medicine. The Courage Coalition seeks to impact culture and medicine to accept and support gender non-conformity in a non-medicalized way. Jamie recently spoke on the steps of the United States Supreme Court at a rally on the day of the US v Skrmetti oral arguments.

Jamie is an accomplished public speaker and has been interviewed and profiled in The New York Times, the podcast Triggernometry, Gender: A Wider Lens, and Transparency. She has spoken at numerous conferences including Genspect: The Bigger Picture in Colorado, at the International Perspectives on Evidence- Based Treatment for Gender-Dysphoric Youth in New York, and Psychotherapeutic Process with Young People Experiencing Gender Dysphoria in Tampere, Finland.

Jamie is a lesbian and foster and adoptive parent of five boys. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Research from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology.

Feminists in Struggle’s forums and educational events are interactive, encouraging questions and participation from the audience. This special event is open to both men and women; however, women will be given priority during the discussion segment of the event.

 

 

 

Trump’s Threat to Women’s Rights & the ERA

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The Equal Rights Amendment MUST Be Published Before Trump Takes Office!

In view of recent election results and, despite denials, the clear intention of the Trump Administration to implement Project 2025, which reads as a male supremacist manifesto, it is imperative that Biden reverse his obstructionism and instruct the National Archivist, Colleen Shogun, to publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.  The ERA has met all the legal requirements, having been ratified by ¾ of the states, the 38th of which, Virginia, ratified on January 27, 2020.  Women have been waiting for over a century for the ERA to first be passed by Congress, and then be ratified by the required number of states.

The National Archivist is a ministerial position under the Executive Branch, and Biden is the only person who can reverse the decision by the Trump Administration to unconstitutionally interfere with its automatic publication following ratification by the requisite states, and reverse his own administration’s continuation of the Trump obstructionism.  The ERA represents our best, and only, real bulwark against the tide of male supremacism Trump promises to deliver.

We acknowledge that biological women, as a sex class, have enemies on the Left and on the Right. The embrace and promotion of gender ideology on the Left and its erasure of women has been breathtaking, despite its utter lack of scientific evidence; its having been founded on junk science; its clear misogyny and homophobia in its exaltation of sexual stereotypes; its disregard for the safeguarding of children and legitimate concerns of parents; the willful blindness to the real harms of medicalization, and the corporate pharmaceutical money behind it; the pain of detransitioners and regretters; and total disregard of the infringement on the sex-based rights and safety of women and girls.

In addition, the cancel culture, McCarthyist repression of free speech and de-platforming of anyone questioning gender ideology and so-called “gender affirming care”, has exposed the authoritarian nature of this men’s rights movement, which has captured the Left, with rare exception.

Among other issues such as Gaza, the border, the disastrous handling of the exit from Afghanistan, concerns about the price of living, etc., the Biden Administration’s elevating the rights of trans-identified males over the rights of women and girls and the promotion of gender ideology was one of the reasons that the Presidential Democratic ticket lost the election to Trump.

In following the dictates of the TQ+ gender lobby, the Biden/Harris Administration and the Harris/Walz campaign ceded rational ground to the other enemies of women’s rights, the Christian nationalists and their MAGA allies, men’s rights activists, and other garden variety misogynists, who nevertheless know what a woman is and that there are only two sexes, observable at birth. Their adherence to this ideology contributed directly to Trump’s appeal and ultimate win, as this is an issue he plans to confront, some long-time Democrats even voting for him because they hope for some relative sanity to be restored in this regard.

The men’s rights activists insist that women are inferior, should cater to men, be subservient, and allow themselves to be sexually exploited. Some young incels and “bros” have been emboldened by Trump’s win to the extent that they are now exultantly proclaiming “Your body, MY choice!” in defiance of the abortion rights battle cry and women’s right to bodily autonomy and agency and in their zeal to dominate and control women’s lives and bodies.

The Christian Right, the other enemy of women’s sex-based rights, has embraced Trump as their champion and tirelessly devoted itself to his campaign, and has been greatly empowered by Trump’s win and takeover of Congress and the Supreme Court. It would like to not only turn women into handmaidens, but outlaw and criminalize abortion and also birth control, attempt to grant fetuses “personhood”, track women’s pregnancies and penalize miscarriages, do away with no-fault divorce, treat rapists with kid gloves and accuse victims of “false reporting”, end investigation of campus rape, penalize unmarried women, and generally return women to 1950’s America. The Christian Nationalists also take a very dim view of our federal government and welcome Trump’s plan to dismantle it.  The truth is, it aims to destroy our representative democracy, do away with the separation of church and state, and transform this country into a theocratic dictatorship. If you think this is an overstatement, please view the recently released documentary, “Bad Faith”, and prior to that, “The Family“. This is the enemy that will be in ascendance with Trump in power.

We call on all women and men who oppose tyranny and the destruction of the rights of natal women and girls to help us get the ERA finally published onto the Constitution in order to protect us from the twin threats of gender ideology and the religious right.  We have allies in Congress who have signed onto the resolutions, SJR 39 in the Senate, and HJR 82 in the House, which recognize that the only remaining step for the ERA to become law is publication, and that it is up to Joe Biden to finally take this step to ensure that all the hard-won rights women have fought for, including voting rights, abortion rights, contraception, equal pay, no-fault divorce, owning property, obtaining credit in one’s own name, safe spaces, sports, etc. are not rolled back. The ERA would ensure that women cease to be treated as second-class citizens before the law, and would have prevented Roe being overturned.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the sponsor of SJR 39, is hosting a virtual Town Hall on the ERA on this coming Tuesday, December 3rd at 4 PM PDT, 7 PM EST and we need supporters of the ERA to register now and attend! We also need you to call these Senators and U.S. Representatives and direct them to apply pressure to Biden to publish and text Biden at 302-404-0880 and Harris at 310-861-2977.

The time is NOW!  We cannot let the efforts of our First Wave Feminist forebears like Alice Paul’s efforts to be in vain.  Sign up for the Town Hall and start calling and writing these representatives and the White House, remind them on social media, and don’t stop until Biden makes the call to the National Archivist and gets the ERA in the Constitution!

FIST establishes collaboration with LGBT Courage Coalition in Campaign to End Child Transition

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On November 20, 2024, three members of FIST’s Coordinating Committee and an additional FIST member met with Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri of the LGBT Courage Coalition to plan joint work to stop the misogynist and homophobic practice of child medical transition.  That practice targets for sterilization and permanent medical harm mostly girls and gender non-conforming children, the large majority of whom are likely to grow up to be lesbians or gay men.

We all agreed about the importance of challenging mainstream LGBT organizations that promote this practice in the name of the LGB community and that the voices of gender critical lesbians and gay men are particularly vital in this struggle.

The common work we outlined at the meeting includes:

  • Participation at the December 4th “Do No Harm” rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C..  That day the Court will hear oral arguments in the case of United States v. Skrmetti, on the issue of whether state bans on so-called “gender affirming care” for transgender identified minors are unconstitutional.  FIST members and supporters on the east coast in particular should consider attending this important protest!
  • Participation in protests at medical conferences planned for the spring and summer of 2025 in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Stay tuned for details!
  • Educating FIST members and our periphery on the effect of puberty blockers on developing adolescents and the other permanent harms associated with these “treatments”.

All of us in FIST look forward to working together with the LGBT Courage Coalition in the coming months!

ERA Attorney Wendy Murphy Blows Whistle on New York State’s Equality Act, Amendment 1

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A few years ago, the Equality Act was pending in the U.S. Congress that would have harmed women’s and lesbian/gay rights by allowing gender identity to override sex based protections for women, including for lesbians. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5  Feminists in Struggle called for amending the Equality Act by adopting the Feminist Amendments to the Equality Act that would make sex protections separate and distinct.   Now, a New York initiative is trying to do the same thing as the Equality Act threatening the rights of women in New York in the name of equal rights for marginalized groups.  New York’s Equality Act to be voted on November 5th, would, if approved, similarly erode women’s rights by conflating gender identity with sex.  https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_Proposal_1,_Equal_Protection_of_Law_Amendment_(2024) Under New York’s Proposal 1, sex becomes no longer a distinct protected class under law with women entitled to sex based protections.  Rather, some men , those who claim to be women, must be included.

To understand this issue better and why it is such a threat to women’s rights, we highly recommend the Thursday, October 24, edition of Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio at WBAI that featured esteemed women’s rights attorney Wendy Murphy being interviewed by host/producer Fran Luck, in a passionate and legally informative takedown of the New York State Equality Act (on the November 5 ballot) and how it pushes backward our chances of obtaining equal rights under the law.

This omnibus anti-discrimination legislation, which, if passed, will be permanently added to the New York State Constitution, claims to give protection to people in every possible vulnerable category, such as age, race, disability, religion, etc. However, when it comes to the category of sex, we see the following language: “or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

As Wendy points out, including “gender identity” as a sub-category of “sex” waters down the meaning of “sex” and the idea of women being a separate “sex class” worthy of our own piece of legislation — i.e., an Equal Rights Amendment, with a requirement of “strict scrutiny” (the highest level of legal commitment to monitor and enforce discrimination laws). “Gender Identity” also implicitly asserts that sex is “mutable” (change-able) and “strict scrutiny” is only granted to groups of people whose status is immutable: they cannot change their status because they are born into a particular group and will be part of it for their entire lives. (The category of race is granted strict scrutiny for this reason.) So, although “sex” is included in this omnibus “equal rights” legislation, its use for women is undercut by the inclusion of “gender identity” within the category of “sex”.

Wendy Murphy makes many other important points about how the law works and doesn’t work in regard to women in compelling and accessible (to non-lawyers) language and the strongest clearest LEGAL argument for immediately adding the 101-year-old already fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that you will hear anywhere. The program contains a feminist news segment and listener call-ins at the end — including one by a FIST member! You can hear it at https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=53797.

You can help to keep this radical feminist radio program — one of the only ones on terrestrial radio — on the air by contributing in its name at https://wbai.org or by becoming a sustaining member of the station (non-commercial, alternative) for as little as $5-$10 a month. Just go to https://buddy.wbai.org. (And please don’t forget to check Joy of Resistance as your “favorite program” on the donation form.)

Below is contact information for Joy of Resistance.

Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio @ WBAI,
99.5 FM, NYC, airing Thursdays, 11:00 AM (Eastern)
Broadcasts to NY/NJ/Conn, streams live at https://wbai.org/listen-live/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/joyofresistance

Blog: http://joyofresistance.wordpress.com

The Equal Rights Amendment – Final Impact Plan!

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What is the ERA? The ERA is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to correct the omission of women. Like all amendments, it required ¾ of the states (38) to ratify it for it to become part of the Constitution. This is the full text:

Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

The ERA was ratified by the 38th state (Virginia) on January 27, 2020. So why isn’t it in the Constitution?  Because first the Trump Administration and then the Biden Administration have unconstitutionally obstructed its being published by the National Archivist, as the Constitution requires.

There are so many reasons why women and girls need the ERA. Let’s review some statistics:

  • Over 4 women a week were murdered in California in 2020
  • Over 298.000 rapes of women were reported in the U.S. in the same year
  • Spousal abuse of women is estimated at 4.8 million every year
  • Approximately 1 million women are stalked annually in the U.S.
  • Over 78% of sexual harassment charges were filed by women between 2018-2021
  • 7 in 10 human trafficking victims are women and girls
  • Over 500,000 cases of female genital mutilation have occurred or are at risk of occurring in the U.S.
  • Abortion rights and birth control are increasingly under attack, risking women’s health and lives
  • Women in every state report injustice in their family law cases, especially battered mothers trying to protect their children from abusive fathers who aggressively litigate against them, using family court to stalk, harass, punish, and impoverish their former partners and children
  • Child marriage is still prevalent in the U.S., 87% of victims of which are girls
  • Women still earn 82 cents to every dollar men earn
  • Single women and mothers with children are the two fastest-growing groups of people experiencing homelessness in the United States

All of this is facilitated and amplified by the fact that women do not have equal standing in the U.S. Constitution.

Attorney Wendy Murphy explains more in this video:

Some History:

The ERA was first introduced into Congress in 1923 as the Lucretia Mott Amendment, shortly after women suffragists won the right to vote. It was always Alice Paul’s and the First Wave feminists’ intent to gain equal standing in the U.S. Constitution following gaining the vote. The ERA languished for decades, however, was rewritten in 1943, and finally passed in its present form in 1972. This was due to the efforts of Paul who seized the moment when the Civil Rights Movement for black people gained ground in order to press for the civil rights of women. It then went to the states for ratification and reached 35 states before the imposed deadline of first 7 years, extended to 10 years, expired in 1982. In 1992, when the 27th amendment was passed after over 202 years, efforts began anew to obtain the last 3 states to ratify in order to reach the ¾ requirement.

Because of the tireless efforts of individual women and especially the organization, Equal Means Equal, Nevada ratified in 2017; Illinois in 2018, and Virginia in 2020, reaching the required 38 states. Instead of being published onto the Constitution by the National Archivist as Article V of the Constitution mandates, however, the Trump Administration unconstitutionally interfered with its publication by writing a memo, known as the Bill Barr Memo, to the National Archivist telling him not to publish because the deadline had passed.  As Archivist, David Ferriero had recorded the ratifications of Nevada and Illinois, but pursuant to the memo from the Office of Legal Counsel in the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, he did not act to publish and certify the ERA after receiving Virginia’s ratification documents in January 2020.

Then after the 2020 election, the Biden Administration continued obstructing its publication and has fought it in court like the Trump Administration did, despite claiming support for the ERA and women’s rights when campaigning. This is especially outrageous considering the fact that the Dobbs decision overturning Roe would not have been possible had the ERA been in the Constitution.

David Ferriero retired in the spring of 2022, and Colleen Shogan was confirmed as his successor as Archivist; she has stated she would publish the ERA if she were told to do so by President Biden. So that is what we need to pressure him to do! We need as many people as possible participating every day in this campaign between now and the election, as that is when we have some leverage and can get some national attention.

Here is our battle plan to finally get the ERA published:

  • CALL: White House Comment Line 202-456-1111 open T-Th 11-3 EST 8-12 PDT
  • TEXT: 310-861-2977 – Harris    302-404-0800 – Biden
  • EMAIL: whitehouse.gov/contact – request a response!
  • HOUND ON SOCIAL MEDIA:    

Twitter accounts: @JoeBiden or @POTUS /@KamalaHarris or @VP  –  Use Hashtags #ERA #EqualRightsAmendment #ERANow!

Sample posts:

 The #EqualRightsAmendment was fully ratified on January 27, 2020 and has been unconstitutionally obstructed by Trump & now by @POTUS and @VP. It is now over 100 years since the #ERA was first introduced into Congress. How long must women wait for equality?!  Make the call, @JoeBiden!

Congress and the American Bar Association @ABAesq have both deemed the #EqualRightsAmendment to be fully ratified. Why are you standing in the way of women’s equality? What are you waiting for @POTUS and @VP?! Call the National Archivist and tell her to publish #ERA, @JoeBiden!

  • Write/call/tweet to senators and congressional representatives in support of HJ Res 82 and SJ Res 39, resolutions to urge the publication of the ERA.  Make it clear that you realize that Congress has already done its job in 1972, and it is Joe Biden’s turn to do his by calling the Archivist and instructing her to publish. Let them know they should be pressuring him directly as it is HIS responsibility, not theirs.  No bill extending the deadline is needed either (nor is it valid).

ADDITIONAL ACTIONS:

  • Take a photo of yourself with an ERA sign with the demand “Make the call Joe!” and upload it to https://finalimpact.org.

For more information see the following videos and articles:

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmyQqmEVGy or https://t.co/hpWyArF6kn

https://x.com/i/spaces/1jMKgmqrXkyJL

https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq/

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/diversity/women/initiatives_awards/era

JOIN US FOR FORUM SAT. SEPT. 14th ON CASS REVIEW: EXPOSING LIES BEHIND CHILD TRANSITION

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Feminists in Struggle presents a forum on the independent Cass Review that is blowing holes in the rationalization for the medical transitioning of gender non- conforming children and youth.

This event will take place  on Zoom on SATURDAY, SEPT. 14th at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Tickets on sale now on Eventbrite:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cass-review-exposing-the-lies-behind-child-transition-tickets-1001755045307?aff=oddtdtcreator

Dr. Cass conducted an independent systematic review of existing evidence on behalf of the NHS in the U.K. She documented the poor quality of the published studies, and the weak evidence supporting use of puberty suppression and cross sex hormones along with their unknown long-term effects.

Join us for the discussion of Dr. Cass’s findings and recommendations and how to get the word out to stop this harmful sterilizing experiment on children who are different, including future generations of gays and lesbians.

SPEAKERS:

Aaron Kimberly is a Canadian woman born with a rare ovotesticular intersex condition who took testosterone as an adult and lived almost 20 years as a transman. She is a mental health nurse who first blew the whistle on pediatric gender medicine in 2019. In 2001 she cofounded the Gender Dysphoria Alliance to educate about different types of gender dysphoria. In 2023 she cofounded the LGBT Courage coalition with the Missouri whistleblower Jamie Reed, to support other whistleblowers and to protect gender nonconforming children, most of whom are gay/lesbian, from medical harm.

Ann Menasche is a lesbian, radical feminist and socialist, and a life-long activist who is a co-founder and co-coordinator of Feminists in Struggle (FIST). FIST is committed to spreading the word about the Cass Review and challenging the myths used to promote so-called “gender affirming care.” This issue is also personal for Ann. As a girl who aspired to the freedom and privileges of men, she would have likely succumbed to an ideology that said her body was “wrong” and in need of medicalization, were she growing up today.

This forum is a women-only event. It will be video-taped. Men who wish to view it can watch it later for free on FIST’s YouTube channel. Our Forums are interactive events with plenty of time for questions or comments from the audience. Women should check in 10 minutes before the event. Participants are free to close their camera or change their name after they have checked in.

The Zoom link will be sent by email to registrants prior to the event.

FIRST NATIONAL FIST CONFERENCE BOOST TO GRASS ROOTS FEMINIST ORGANIZING

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Thirty-five women representing  a range of ages and backgrounds,  participated in the first national conference of Feminists In Struggle July 5th through 7th.  The beautiful relaxed indoor/outdoor setting with gardens and walkways, and a comfortable breezy conference space, allowed for women to get to know each other face-to-face and to actively participate in growing a multi-issue radical feminist democratically run membership organization.

Aptly named, “Our Radical Roots”, A women’s Liberation Organizing Conference,” both plenaries and workshops provided for plenty of time for  everyone to share questions, thoughts and ideas with the group.  We heard from Ann Menasche, Thistle Pettersen, Christy Hammer, and Denice Traina, women who have been targeted for witch-hunting for their refusal to deny the material reality and importance of sex.  We heard Feminist historian Max Dashu, and Kathie Sarachild, one of the founders of Second Wave feminism, speak  about the radical Leftist roots of the Second Wave; listened to ERA lawyer Wendy Murphy explain the importance of the ERA that would place strong sex based rights in the Constitution and advance the status of women across the board; and held an interactive discussion with Merle Hoffman, founder of the earliest abortion clinics and author of a new book, Choices: A Port-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto” where she argued that we must learn to love the struggle even in the face of setbacks.   Hilla Kerner from Vancouver Rape Relief shared her perspective on defending women’s spaces and working collectively to build the movement.

Workshops included strategizing on working in mainstream feminist groups such as NOW where many are not yet gender critical, and a discussion led by Arianne of LGB Alliance and Carol, a de-transitioner, on the homophobia of gender affirming care.

A membership meeting was convened Saturday afternoon in which FIST members discussed and voted to approve an action  plan to grow FIST through developing local chapters, planning actions that can gain national media attention, improving our internal functioning, and expanding our coalition work with other feminists.  Areas of focus for the future work of FIST that members approved include participating in the Final Impact Campaign to demand that the Biden Administration instruct the archivist to publish the duly ratified E.R.A. into the U.S. Constitution, promoting the Cass Review in opposition to so-called “gender affirming care” for minors; and defense of women’s spaces including women in prison.

Saturday night we were treated to the feminist folk music of Thistle Pettersen and hilarious stand-up comedy of Francesca de la Pense.  One memorable line from her routine on those who don’t seem to know what a woman is because they are not “biologists”, was: “I don’t know what a brain is, I’m not a neurologist!”

Kathie Sarachild coined the slogan “Sisterhood is Powerful” many decades ago.  Those of us who were fortunate enough to attend FIST’s conference knew what she meant.

 

 

 

 

SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL!

Check the Feminists In Struggle You-tube channel for videos of portions of the Conference that should be posted soon.

FIST CONGRATULATES ANN MENASCHE FOR REACHING A RESOLUTION OF HER WRONGFUL DISCHARGE CASE

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At the FIST National Conference on July 5, 2024 Ann Menasche, co-founder and co-coordinator of FIST, was one of four speakers at the opening plenary entitled “No More Witch-hunts: Tactics & Strategies for Defending Feminists Jobs, Livelihoods and Public Activism. ”

Ann spoke about the witch-hunt that resulted in her termination from Disability Rights California after twenty years of employment, having been targeted by a trans-identified female with whom she previously had no contact,  and a group of 15 or more  co-workers, mostly supervisory staff.  The group originally went after Ann for asserting  during a diversity training that she is a lesbian (same-sex rather than “same gender” attracted, the new definition imposed by trans extremists that includes males), and began investigating her outside political activities (protected under California Labor Law),

They were  ready to strike when on May 6, 2022,  the Executive Director released a statement on the leaked Dobbs decision  and welcomed staff feedback. The statement mentioned a long list of groups that would be negatively effected by banning abortion, but left out women.  Ann responded, “So glad DRC came up with a statement in defense of Roe! Thank you! Access to safe legal abortion is a life and death necessity for women as a biological sex across the board…and an absolute prerequisite to equal female participation in society.”

In response to this benign statement about the importance of abortion rights to women, she was called a “hate monger” and a TERF”, and the following workday, condemned by her workgroup of civil rights lawyers. She would later learn that that same day 15 people submitted  a petition  to the management team demanding that she be fired.  The petition referenced her statement on abortion, her lesbian sexuality and her outside political activity.  Two days later, without warning, she was terminated.

“The witch-hunt was merciless”, Ann said. My employer denied my unemployment because of my abuse of staff.  I had to wait six months to win it back.  Fortunately, I had started collecting Social Security, had some savings.  If I was a younger person without those things, my liberal employer would have effectively thrown me out onto the streets.”

Ann emphasized the importance of lawsuits, building broad political support and media in fighting back against the witch-hunters.

“Ultimately, the only way to stop a witch-hunt is for enough people to speak out in opposition to it. When more and more people say as Joseph Welch said to McCarthy in 1954, “Have you no sense of decency?,”  it will end…They can’t fire all of us.”

At the end of the presentations, a FIST member from the audience asked about the status of her lawsuit.   Ann replied, “After close to a year and a half of hard fought litigation, the case has been resolved.  I am not at liberty to provide details of the resolution the parties reached.  I will emphasize how important it is to find a good lawyer who understands the issues and is willing to fight for you.  I was very lucky to have found one. Also invaluable was the support I received from other feminists and male allies in the Justice for Ann Committee and the multiple media interviews and coverage that helped get the word out.  It was pretty clear to my former employer that I was not going quietly into the night.”

Ann was heartily congratulated by her sister FIST members and others attending the conference.

 

 

OPEN LETTER TO DEMOCRACY NOW: COVER THE CASS REPORT ON LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR “GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE” FOR MINORS!

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This letter was sent out on May 9, 2024 to Amy Goodman and Democracy NOW, written by a FIST committee, and approved by FIST’s membership.

Feminists in Struggle (FIST)
Attn: Democracy Now!
RE: Coverage of the Cass Review

May 9, 2024

Dear Amy Goodman and team at Democracy Now!

We are Feminists in Struggle, a national female-only, radical feminist network fighting for women’s liberation from sex-based oppression. Many of our members have been long-time listeners and supporters of Democracy Now! We appreciate your contributions to U.S. journalism over the past several decades – and for the information you continue to disseminate every week.

That said, we are curious about the conspicuous lack of coverage into The Cass Review, an Independent review of gender identity services for children and young people, conducted by British Pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, and released on April 9, 2024 to major headlines around the world. The Cass Review constitutes the largest and most comprehensive examination of the evidence base to date for pediatric gender medicine, including 237 papers from 18 countries and 113,269 children and adolescents.

Dr. Hilary Cass was commissioned by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to lead this exhaustive, systematic review due to her decades of renowned work as a British pediatrician with research interests including autistic spectrum conditions, cognitive impairments, and the care of children with multiple disabilities. Conducted over a four year period, the Cass Review contains nearly 400 pages and 32 recommendations — with a rather damning commentary about the “lack of an effective evidentiary base” supporting youth gender medicine practices. This includes the effectiveness and safety of prescribing puberty blockers, and emphasizes the importance of using “extreme  caution” when prescribing hormone or other medical interventions for minors due to the risks for causing permanent infertility, chronic medical conditions, and impairment of the permanent infertility, chronic medical conditions, and impairment of the ability to experience sexuality outweighing the possible benefits.

The UK formally closed its pediatric Gender Identity Services (GIDS) on March 24, 2024 and other nations (including Finland, Norway, and Sweden) have also been rolling back their services for youth and favoring a much more conservative approach to treatment
and clinical care with this vulnerable population. The Cass Review specifically highlights the necessity of using comprehensive, “holistic” clinical screenings and assessments in treating minors, as childhood and adolescence are unique developmental stages distinct from adulthood, and require non-medicalized approaches to care.

Additionally, the Cass Review underlines the fact that there is often an extremely high rate of co-occurring mental health conditions in minors seeking gender identity services (including complex post-traumatic stress, major depression, eating disorders, and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism) that must be considered, addressed, and treated using a bio-psycho-social model, rather than an affirm-and-medicalize approach. Evidence also demonstrates that a significant number of gender confused youth will eventually  “grow out” of their distress – as many are simply gender nonconforming, neurodifferent, and/or bisexual, lesbian, or gay. To medically transition an autistic, gay, lesbian, or bisexual child on the basis of “gender identity” alone constitutes reparative therapy and eugenics as well as what has been long delegitimized and rejected as “conversion therapy.”

The Cass report also raised alarms about the striking, historically unprecedented increase in the number of adolescent girls referred to the UK’s Gender Identity Services (rising from 15 to 1,071) over the seven year period from 2009 – 2016. What, exactly, is driving this entirely new cohort to seek services from gender medicine clinics? Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, recently expressed her concern about the “devastating consequences on the human rights of children and girls” being caused by the blind adherence to gender identity ideology over sound, long-established clinical practice.

It is beyond time to bring all of the evidence to light in the discussion of gender identity ideology and to return to the use of unbiased journalistic principles —we’d like to see your fair and unbiased coverage of the Cass Review.

In solidarity with other radical feminists:

● We request a published explanation as to why the Cass Report, taken very seriously in Europe, and covered by all major European media outlets, has not been mentioned at all on Democracy Now!

● We request that Democracy Now! repair this serious omission immediately.

● We request that Democracy Now! differentiate between sex and gender in reporting.

● We request that Democracy Now! cover gender identity issues going forward in compliance with basic rules of journalism — balanced, presenting multiple opinions from multiple sources.

Again, we thank you for the valuable work you do and look forward to your future reporting on the important findings of the Cass Review.

Sincerely,

FIST

EXCITING PROGRAM PLANNED FOR FIRST NATIONAL FIST CONFERENCE July 5th to 7th 2024

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THIS JULY, DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE FROM THE PATRIARCHY!

Registration Open Now

OUR RADICAL ROOTS:
A Women’s Liberation Organizing Conference

July 5th to 7th 2024 in a beautiful location with gardens, walkways, good food, comfy beds and swimming pool approx. one hour from San Diego

The Program starts Friday night with a plenary on “No More Witch-hunts: Tactics & Strategies for Defending Feminists Jobs, Livelihoods and Public Activism.”  The panel consists of four speakers, Ann Menasche (founding member of FIST), Thistle Pettersen (singer-songwriter & founder of Women’s Liberation Radio News) , Christy Hammer (Univ. of So. Maine professor of Education) and Denise Traina (co-chair of the Georgia Green Party & Green Alliance for Sex-Based rights) who have lost jobs and/or have been subjected to harassment or witch-hunting including within the Left because they recognize that sex exists and support the rights of women based on sex and the rights of lesbians based on sexual orientation. We will discuss strategies for how to fight back successfully against these misogynistic and homophobic attacks.

On Saturday morning after a short walk, we will participate in a plenary “Our Radical Roots: Taking Back the Left for Feminism” with presentations by Max Dashu (feminist historian) Fran Luck (host of WBAI Joy of Resistance multicultural feminist programming), and Kathie Sarachild (one of the founding mothers of Second Wave Radical Feminism).   This will be followed by two workshops to choose from, one on working with other feminists who are not yet gender critical on core feminist issues (led by Dena from FIST), and the second one on Guerilla Strategies led by Jessika Gonzalez, (TERF Collective).

After lunch, there will be a brief presentation on feminist strategy by Hilla Kerner (Vancouver Rape Relief), and then FIST members will  participate in a discuss and vote on a proposal outlining plans for our future work, “Looking Forward;   Proposal for Growing FIST and building a multi-issue radical feminist movement.”  We will then take a two hour break to swim, socialize with our sisters, take a nap, or whatever we’d like to do.  Before dinner we will break up into regional causes to discuss how to carry out the Looking Forward proposal in our local and regional areas.

Saturday night should be great fun. We will begin with an inspiring pre-recorded talk about the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment by ERA attorney Wendy Murphy.  We will then be treated to a concert by Thistle Pettersen performing her original feminist folk music, followed by dancing and socializing.

Sunday, after breakfast, there will be a second set of workshops, one on “Transing Away the Lesbian: Strategies for Ending the Homophobic Practice of Gender Affirming Care”  led by Carol (a detransitioner), and Arianne (LBG Alliance USA); and the second on Defending Women’s Spaces let by Hilla Kerner (Vancouver Rape Relief) and Amie Ichikawa (Women II Women).  There will then be a plenary presentation and discussion on “Strategies for winning back abortion rights”  led by abortion rights pioneer and author Merle Hoffman,  Merle is a founder of one of the earliest abortion clinics in New York, a founder of the National Abortion Federation, a leader of Rise Up for Abortion Rights https://merlehoffman.com/and recently authored a book,  Choices: A Post-Roe Abortion Rights Manifesto. The final plenary will be a participatory exercise in envisioning a future of women’s liberation.  We will enjoy a final meal together and may stay after lunch for a final swim.

Throughout the conference, presentations will be short to allow plenty of time for discussion and sharing of ideas.  We are building a movement and all of our voices and energies our needed.

Sign-up soon as there are limited spaces at the venue.  Deadline for registration is May 31, 2024.  Payment is due on or before June 15, 2024.  Any last minute requests to register after the deadline, please contact us at admin@feministstruggle.org and we’ll check with the venue.

ALSO, HELP WITH OUR FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN TO FUND SCHOLARSHIPS AND SPEAKERS’ TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR THE CONFERENCE!  You can donate here: https://feministstruggle.org/donate/. Please indicate in the notes that it is for the Conference. We aim to raise $5,000 before June 15, 2024.  Individuals, male or female, are encouraged to donate, but we do not take money from right wing groups or corporations. 

SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL!