Author: feminist struggle

CAN ANY WOMAN BE A LESBIAN? FASCINATING FORUM SET FOR JULY 11th – TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

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FEMINISTS IN STRUGGLE IS SPONSORING THIS SPECIAL WOMEN-ONLY FORUM ON ZOOM.

What if heterosexuality wasn’t innate, but enforced and expected?

Can any woman be a lesbian?

Saturday, July 11th, 12:00 noon Pacific Time, 3:00 pm. Eastern

TICKETS ON SALE NOW: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1992292981940?aff=oddtdtcreator

Participate in this fascinating discussion on feminism, political lesbianism and compulsory heterosexuality led by contributors to the recently published anthology, “I Wiah I Was a Lesbian: Women’s Lives Beyond Heterosexuality” (Spinifex Press, 2026).

FIST FORUMS are interactive events with plenty of time for questions and discussion. Zoom link will be provided after registration close to the event.

SPEAKERS:

  1. ANGELA C. WILD is a political artist, lesbian feminist activist, and writer. An unapologetic radical feminist her work is dedicated to promoting uncompromising lesbian visibility, building a lesbian culture, defending women-only spaces, and dismantling patriarchal institutions such as compulsory heterosexuality, compulsory motherhood, sexual violence, and pornography. She is the editor of “I Wish I Was a Lesbian.”
  2. TABATA SPINSTER is a radical lesbian feminist, writer, and multi-disciplinary artists from Mexico, deeply committed to creation from political consciousness and lesbian rebellion. Her photography and graphic art has been published and exhibited in cities like Mexico City, Prague and Argentina. She has collaborated with various feminist organizations focused on arts and independent cultural management.
  3. ANN E. MENASCHE is a radical lesbian feminist and revolutionary with roots in both the feminist movement and the socialist left. She is a founding member and co-coordinator of Feminists In Struggle and works as a civil rights attorney representing low income tenants and unhoused people. She is the author of Leaving the Life, and many poems and essays.
  4. CHARLIE MAY is a lesbian, feminist, seafarer, writer, and scientist with a long history of campaigning for human rights. She first stepped into radical feminism sharing her experiences living with a trans identity and extreme discomfort around her sex. Despite ongoing threats and harassment, Charlie helped open dialogue around the unmet needs of women who were previously trans identified.

CAN THE DRAFT SAVE THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT? Forum planned for Saturday June 13th with Wendy Murphy!

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 FEMINIST FORUM: CAN THE DRAFT SAVE THE  EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT?

Saturday, June 13  •  11 AM – 1 PM

Get your tickets HERE:

On Saturday, June 13th at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time/2:00 p.m. Eastern, join us for a dive into the latest ERA court case and arguments for legal equality for our sex!

This Zoom forum features renowned feminist attorney WENDY MURPHY and should be a stimulating presentation and discussion!

 

WENDY MURPHY is adjunct professor of Sexual Violence and Law Reform at New England Law in Boston where she also co-directs the Women’s and Children’s Advocacy Project (WCAP) under the Center for Law and Social Responsibility. WCAP runs the Judicial Language Project, and the Hate Crimes Against Women project, WCAP also files amicus briefs and engages in public interest litigation to advance the rights of women and children. On January 7, 2020, WCAP filed a first-in-the-nation federal lawsuit to validate the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Massachusetts federal court.

Wendy is an impact litigator who practices in state and federal courts and specializes in advancing the constitutional and civil rights of women and children. She has authored numerous scholarly articles including a landmark piece explaining the legal relationship between sexual assault on campus and Title IX. Her most recent law review article is a feminist critical re-examination of the history of women’s struggle for equality and is entitled, “Unequal Protection of the Laws for Women is Constitutional Terrorism, So How Come Nobody Knows about It?”

She has also appeared on television as a legal analyst for many years and has worked for NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox News and has provided legal analysis for print and television media. She is the author of two books, “And Justice For Some,” published by Penguin/Sentinel in 2007 and “Oh No He Didn’t: Brilliant Women and the Men Who Took Credit for Their Work,” published by Cynren Press in 2024.

Wendy’s recent article in the Boston Herald, “Unequal draft, unequal rights: Automatic registration for men means women will lose standing in fight for rights” addresses the issues of the Equal Means Equal v. Donald J. Trump case that she will cover in this seminar.

 

FIST forums are held remotely on Zoom, and are women only, interactive events, allowing for time for questions and discussion. Registrants will be provided with a zoom link closer to the event date. Please arrive ten minutes before the scheduled start time. Our forums are also recorded and uploaded to our You Tube channel,  for later viewing by women and men.

Get your tickets HERE:

FIST ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE WAR ON IRAN

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At the time of this posting, the world remains on edge as we wait to hear whether a final settlement of this war is reached, or whether the war will sooner or later flare up again with more violence, death and destruction.  Meanwhile, the killing of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza has continued unabated.  The time for feminists to speak out for peace and in solidarity with our sisters everywhere is now.

Members of Feminists In Struggle have approved by consensus a statement against the U.S./Israel War on Iran and in support of Iranian feminists. 

Here it is below:

FIST stands against the unjustified and reckless war being waged against Iran by the Trump Administration.  The Epstein Axis, led by Trump and Netanyahu is in part about distracting their populations from issues of systemic rape and pedophilia by the elites.  But is also about acquiring and protecting wealth, power, and empire, while being indifferent to the deaths of innocent civilians.

We  must oppose this war as it violates all of the Geneva Convention rules, including starting a war of choice not justified by self-defense, committing war crimes by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure (hospitals, schools, energy facilities) and openly admitting genocidal intent (Trump’s recent threat to send Iran “back to the stone age” ).

Women suffer from war, often disproportionately, from the increased violence, displacement, poverty and fanaticism it engenders. Clearly, this war is not in our interests.

However, our opposition, as feminists, to this war does not mean we support the authoritarian theocratic government in Iran.

SUPPORT FOR FEMINISTS IN IRAN

While many on the left believe that the only two possible positions in this conflict are to side with the theocratic regime or the U.S. attack, FIST takes the position that we must support neither, but instead support Iranian ​Feminists and other progressives, now being murdered and jailed by their government by the thousands (current figures are 7,000 killed, 40,000 arrested) as a result of recent uprisings. The attack by the U.S. will only strengthen the hand of this cruel regime and worsen its crackdown against its citizens.

Women in Iran face systemic legal discrimination and operate under male guardianship that restricts their rights in marriage, divorce, travel, and employment; legally, a woman’s testimony has half the value of a man’s; inheritance by women is a pittance of what men receive; a woman needs her father’s or grandfather’s permission to marry and husbands have an almost absolute right to divorce, while initiating divorce for women is difficult; Iranian law mandates strict, state-enforced hijab with penalties that include flogging, fines and imprisonment (and in the case of the death of Jina Mahsa Amini murder–which is what sparked the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement of 2022-2023). Women in Iran have been resisting this sex apartheid system since 1979!

.EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE U.S.

The unprovoked attack by the U.S. on Iran is having and will continue to  have devastating effects on U.S. society.  The over one trillion dollars spent on weapons each year benefitting war profiteers, leaves little for education, childcare, healthcare, affordable housing, DV shelters, and public benefits that so many women need to survive.

The war will give the Trump administration an excuse to increase the military budget even further and defund human needs programs (many of which particularly impact women).  Working people will have an even harder time to survive, as prices across the board increase, possibly leading to a worldwide depression. There is also the possibility of a further spread of the conflict (many Gulf states have now been forced to become involved) and a World War III scenario cannot be discounted

While serving as distraction to the scandal over the Epstein files, this war is being waged mainly for reasons of imperialism: the controlling of resources—in this case, oil—of another country, and it reinforces a worldwide economy based on fossil fuels, which can only hasten the ongoing ecological planetary crisis. None of this is in the interest of women in the U.S., Iran, or elsewhere.

For the above reasons, we say NO to Islamic (or any) Theocracy. We say NO to U.S. imperialism. We say NO to government funds going into the pockets of war profiteers and advancing the aims of the warmongers while regular people in all nations suffer. We demand a U.S. government that honors international law, that prioritizes spending for peoples’ needs and centers the needs of women, and that promotes peace throughout the Middle East and the world.

Celebrate Women’s Rights on July 4, 2026

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On July 4, 2026, the nation’s semiquincentennial, we are enlisting women and men across the country to acknowledge the fully-ratified Equal Rights Amendment by reading a Women’s Declaration of Independence 2.0 (an updated version of the Declaration of Sentiments) and singing The ERA Song (sung to the tune of America the Beautiful) and the Battle Hymn of Equality (sung to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic) and recording both and posting them online. Anyone wishing to do so can gather together 2 or 3 friends, a group of women, a choir, or any configuration they choose to read and perform the songs and may download them here.

Women’s Declaration of Independence 2.0 reads as follows:

When, in the course of human events,
it becomes necessary for one-half of the people
to call a nation back to its own truths,
we declare the causes which compel us to speak.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all persons are created equal;
that women are persons;
and that government exists to secure these truths—
not to delay or deny them.

The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in stone.
Yet they have never applied fully to women,
because women have never had full legal equality
under the United States Constitution.

Although the Fourteenth Amendment promised equal protection,
it has never been applied equally to women.

And although the Equal Rights Amendment—
ratified in 2020—establishes equality,
it has not been implemented.

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Women bring forth life,
sustain families,
serve their communities,
and defend this nation.
To deny them constitutional equality
is to deny their dignity, humanity, and rights.

Yet courts apply a lesser standard—
intermediate scrutiny—
to laws that discriminate on the basis of sex,
allowing inequality to continue.
The highest standard, strict scrutiny,
remains unavailable to women.

As a result, women are denied equal protection,
economic equality,
and full protection from violence and exploitation.

These injustices are not accidental—
they are legally authorized.

We declare:
women are equal citizens of this Republic.
Equality must be clear in law
and in its enforcement.

We call upon the people to demand:
the full implementation and enforcement
of the Equal Rights Amendment—
by all courts,
and all government officials.

A nation that treats women unequally
cannot be a democracy.

Therefore, we declare:
the Equal Rights Amendment is part of the Constitution.
It is the law.

Women will no longer accept inequality.
We demand equality now—
nothing more, nothing less.

In the spirit of 1776, the Declaration of Sentiments of 1848, and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in 2020.

Drafted in 2026 by a Committee of the National ERA Publication Task Force. org.

#untilwomenareequal

#wewillnotbesilent

For more information on this campaign, go to: https://untilwomenareequal.org/

EXCITING FORUM PLANNED FOR APRIL 18th ON FEMINISM IN IRAN

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TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

FORUM: Woman, Life, Freedom & the Struggle against Theocracy & War in Iran Tickets, Saturday, Apr 18 from 11 am to 1 pm | Eventbrite

 

Woman, Life, Freedom & the Struggle against Theocracy & War in Iran

Saturday, April 18 at 11 am Pacific Time/2:00 p.m. Eastern

 

Hear Iranian feminist Maryam Namazie speak about feminist struggle in Iran & the need to oppose BOTH imperialist war & Iranian theocracy

SPEAKERS:

MARYAM NAMAZIE is a multiple award-winning Iranian-born UK-based activist and writer who has long opposed the Islamic regime and political Islam from a Left perspective. She has organized internationally for women’s rights, asylum seekers, and freedom of expression, including through the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All. In her work on Iran, she consistently argues that the central struggle is a popular uprising against theocratic rule, not a proxy conflict between states, and has been equally critical of war, insisting that both militarism and the regime undermine the fight for woman, life, freedom.

ANN MENASCHE is a founding member and co-coordinator of Feminists in Struggle, a civil rights lawyer, lesbian, and lifelong radical feminist and socialist. She has spent much of her life organizing against imperialist war and for women’s liberation. She has found inspiration from the woman, life, freedom movement in Iran, and those who speak out for peace, whether in Israel, Europe or the United States.

FORUM WILL TAKE PLACE ON ZOOM AND IS WOMEN-ONLY.

 

EXCITING FORUM COMING UP FEBRUARY 7TH ON THE DEMISE OF WOMEN’S STUDIES

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How did Women’s Studies change into “gender studies”, promoting “queer theory”, and leaving women behind?

This feminist Zoom forum features KARLA MANTILA to lead discussion on this timely topic for feminists. A zoom link will be provided two days before the event for all registrants.

The Forum is schedule for Saturday February 7th at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time/4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Tickets are on sale now!  WHAT HAPPENED TO WOMEN’S STUDIES?? Tickets, Sat, Feb 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM | Eventbrite

Karla Mantila is a radical feminist whose grounding in feminism coalesced as a collective member of Off Our Backs, a newsjournal by, for, and about women that was published from 1970 to 2008. She is the author of Gendertrolling: How Misogyny Went Viral (Praeger, 2015), and she taught sociology at George Mason University, Gettysburg College, McDaniel College, and University of Maryland at College Park. She was the managing editor of Feminist Studies, a women’s studies academic journal, where she was witness to the fundamental erosion of feminist thought throughout the field of academic women’s studies.

FIST’s Feminist forum series are women-only interactive educational events where participants are encouraged to ask questions, express their opinions, and engage in vigorous discussion.

A NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE FROM FEMINISTS IN STRUGGLE

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Sisters,

We in FIST have had an amazing year.  We have continued our highly successful program of feminist forums on zoom.  We took stands on important issues like opposing so-called “gender affirming care” that does permanent physical harm to gender non-conforming children and youth, mostly future lesbians and gays.  We supported the duly ratified Equal Rights Amendment which we women need desperately to give us the tool we need to achieve equal rights under the law everywhere in this nation.

We signed onto two amicus briefs for recognition of the ERA ; one, the case of Equal Means Equal v. Donald Trump, which will be heard in Federal Court this coming March.  The second, Putnam v. Putnam, is a North Carolina case challenging sex discrimination in application of the child welfare standard for custody.

We did all this while growing our grassroots membership-run multi-issue radical feminist organization.

Our 2026, feminist forum series should start off with a bang.  We will be hosting Karla Mantilla on February 7, 2026 to lead a discussion on “What Happened to Women’s Studies”,  the erosion of feminist-oriented women’s studies programs at universities by misogynist ideologies like “gender identity” and “queer theory.”  Tickets are on-sale now. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-happened-to-womens-studies-tickets-1979025432342?aff=oddtdtcreator

For International Women’s Day, we will be hosting an organization advocating for women refugees and mothers who are escaping domestic violence. In addition, we have plans for a forum to help launch the lesbian-feminist anthology, “I Wish I Were A Lesbian” that will be published later this year by Spinefex Press. Stay tuned!

In a time of darkness, we the women, hand-in-hand, struggling for our liberation are the light!

PLEASE JOIN US BY BECOMING A MEMBER!  SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL!

FIST Endorses HR 1015 and SB 1147

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Feminists in Struggle has voted to endorse two bills in the U.S. Congress: HR 1015, the Prison Rape Prevention Act of 2025, and S1147, the Defining Male and Female Act of 2025. Both of these bills, though brought by Republicans, Congresswoman Nancy Mace and Senator Roger Marshall respectively, conform to FIST’s principles of working to preserve separate spaces for women, and ending the conflation of gender ‘identity’ and sex.

Female prisoners are suffering greatly in states run by Democrats, like California, Washington, and Illinois, which have allowed male inmates, many of whom are sex offenders, to self-ID their way into the women’s prisons. These men are raping, impregnating, and brutalizing the women, and it is the women who are the ones being disciplined if they lodge complaints. This outrageous injustice must end.

We ask anyone who cares about the rights of women and who acknowledges the scientific, material reality of sex to urge their representatives to support both HR 1015 and S 1147. We cannot allow the cruel and unusual punishment of women in our jails or the pernicious sex denialism of gender ideology to continue to rob women and girls of their identity as an immutable sex class. Femaleness is not a costume. It is a biological, unchangeable fact.

For more information, see Keep Prisons Single Sex and Kara Dansky’s The Abolition of Sex.

Tell PBS News Hour to Interview Equal Means Equal

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PBS News Hour recently aired some segments entitled “On Democracy” wherein they failed to acknowledge the fully-ratified Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment, in addition to other errors and omissions in their reporting. They also interviewed Colleen Shogun, the previous National Archivist, without mentioning her failure to publish the ERA onto the Constitution, as was her duty. Equal Means Equal protested this failure of Shogun and the Biden Administration at the National Archives in January of this year.

The Green Alliance for Sex-Based Rights has posted a letter it penned to PBS in this regard, and are calling for supporters of the ERA to write and call PBS to get Wendy Murphy, J.D., Kamala Lopez, CEO, and Arlaine Rockey, Legal Consultant, of Equal Means Equal on the show. If EME gets on the show, it can correct the reporting by PBS News Hour  and update their viewers on current cases EME lawyers have filed to validate the ERA in the courts, like Equal Means Equal v. Donald J. Trump.

We urge our members and allies to pressure PBS News Hour to get Equal Means Equal on their show. Women need to unite behind securing Equality and end the second-class handmaiden citizenship to which we are currently subjected. #ERAis28A!!

FEMINIST FORUM ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS SET FOR OCTOBER 25th

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JOIN US FOR A TIMELY PANEL DISCUSSION ON TRUMP POLICIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 25, 2025  TIME: 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, 2;00 p.m. Eastern

PLACE: On Zoom

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS

ORDER TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-trump-administration-and-womens-rights-tickets-1724903626179?aff=oddtdtcreator

Whether it is the elimination of DEI, the attacks on free speech and dissent, the crackdown on immigrants, cuts in Medicaid and other vital social programs, the dismantling of large portions of the federal government, the firing of government workers, and the continued refusal to recognize the ERA as the law of the land, women appear to be losing ground. How are women being affected by this Administration’s policies and how can we fight back?

SPEAKERS:

FRAN LUCK: Long-time Radical feminist and grassroots housing activist, Fran is the host of the reknown feminist radio show, “Joy of Resistance: Multicultural feminist radio” on WBAI, 99.5 fm in New York. Joy of Resistance covers “the ongoing and world-wide struggle for the full liberation of women…”

DIANNE POST: A lawyer and feminist activist, Diane has represented battered women and molested children in family and juvenile court, and for the last several decades has worked on international human rights law focusing on sex-based violence. She is active in the Arizona Commission on African American Affairs, NOW, and ERA Task Force in Arizona.

ANN MENASCHE: A founding member and Co-coordinator of Feminists in Struggle (FIST), Ann has been a lifelong radical feminist and socialist. She has had a long career as a civil rights attorney, for the last several years focusing on the rights of homeless people and low-income tenants.

THIS IS A WOMEN-ONLY EVENT.

THIS IS A REMOTE EVENT. AS IN ALL FIST EVENTS IT IS INTERACTIVE WITH PLENTY OF TIME FOR QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.

ZOOM LINK WILL BE PROVIDED TO ALL REGISTRANTS BY EMAIL.