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

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!

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

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.

FIST issues statement supporting Missouri Senate bill 843 banning child transition

On March 25, 2023, FIST sent a statement to the Missouri legislature supporting a bill that would ban medicalized transition for children under 18.  The letter declared in part, “Child transition involving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries that remove or modify healthy body parts are extremely sexist and homophobic practices.  They disproportionately harm a growing number of girls, most of whom are same sex attracted, i.e., are likely to become lesbians, and girls that don’t fit in with sex stereotypes of traditional “femininity” imposed on them by a sexist society.

Medical transition is experimental, cosmetic, and doesn’t cure anything.  Instead, it results in sterilization, prevents proper development of brains and bones, and causes other permanent physical disabilities and shortened life spans.  No child is born in the wrong body! As feminists solidly on the Left, we call for saving the tomboys and future lesbians and feminists as well as all children struggling with being different from these permanent medical harms.”

The bill passed the Missouri Senate and is now pending in the House. If it passes, it will join a number of other states that have passed similar laws. According to ABC News, “At least 11 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have passed laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of legal majority, which is the threshold for legal adulthood.”

FIST is highly appreciative of the work of Scott/Kellie Newgent who has been traveling all over the country working on bills to protect children and who encouraged our participation in this campaign.  Please support her work at trevoices.org.

First Do No Harm Unity Rally

Feminists in Struggle was one of the many groups represented at the First Do No Harm Unity Rally at the American Academy of Pediatrics Convention in Anaheim on Saturday, October 8th to protest the medicalization of children by “gender-affirming care”. There was a great turnout and a lot of spirit!  Women and men, gay and straight, young and old, groups from across the political spectrum, from Green Alliance for Sex-Based Rights, California Legislative Council, Dykes on the Right, Partners for Ethical Care,  to parents groups like Our Duty, which organized the rally, joined together in solidarity in the effort to protect children and youth from the harms of “gender-affirming care”, which medicalizes, sterilizes, and mutilates.  Speakers included Julia Mason, M.D., Pediatrician; Scott Newgent; detransitioners Cat Cattinson, Chloe Cole, and Abel Garcia; and parents decrying this medical scandal.

For more information, see:

Wesley Yang

The Post Millenial

The Daily Wire

NTD TV

The Epoch Times

FIST FORUM: SAVING THE TOMBOYS FROM THE MEDICAL ATROCITIES OF CHILD “TRANSITION”

The medical “transition” of gender non-conforming, mostly lesbian, girls has increased exponentially.  How do we fight it?

JOIN US on AUGUST 13TH at 11:00 a.m.Pacific time, 1:00 p.m. Central, and 2:00 p.m. Eastern for this timely discussion of the harmful practice of medicalization of a growing number of gender non-conforming girls, a majority of whom are lesbian, through use of puberty blockers, wrong sex hormones, double mastectomies, and genital mutilating surgeries. Reserve your tickets now.

Girls are being taught that their non-conformity and same sex attraction mean they have been born in the “wrong” body, with the result that they pursue dangerous treatments before they even reach adulthood, causing permanent harm to their healthy developing bodies and turning them into life-long medical patients. Many of these girls will in a few years join the growing ranks of detransitioners and regretters. Is this the face of the new homophobia? How can we fight back and save new generations of tomboys, lesbians, and future feminists?

TICKETS ONLY $5 – SAVING THE TOMBOYS FROM THE MEDICAL ATROCITIES OF CHILD “TRANSITION” Tickets, Sat, Aug 13, 2022 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite

SPEAKERS:

CAROL is an advisor for de-transitioned people, having gone through transition and de-transition herself. She is a co-founder of Detrans Voices: Detransition Stories, Resources, and Community and a member of LGB Alliance USA | Leading the Fight for Same-Sex Rights She currently co-facilitates a gender dysphoria support group for lesbian and bisexual women through LGB Alliance USA and continues to work on outreach and awareness around de-transition.

ERIN FRIDAY is a licensed attorney in California and the mom of a desister. She is co-leader of Our Duty, U.S. branch, a parent support group for parents of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoric kids.

T is the founder and national organizer of Lesbians United, a grassroots lesbian-only organization in the U.S. Lesbians United is creating public information campaigns both online and on the street to fight back against the anti-lesbian transgenderist movement.

ANN MENASCHE is a radical feminist, lesbian, socialist, political activist, and co-founder of Feminists in Struggle and Green Alliance for Sex-Based Rights. Growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s, she seriously thought about “transitioning” when she read about Christine Jorgensen, because she yearned for the career opportunities and authority only available to men. The advent of feminism helped her to accept herself for the first time as she dedicated herself to women’s liberation and radical social change.

FIST’s Feminist Forums series are interactive and organizing events. At our forums, women have an opportunity not only to hear interesting speakers on a variety of feminist topics but to meet each other, make comments, ask questions of the presenters and discuss feminist politics together. We also usually tape the events so they may be viewed later. Women in attendance are free to shut off their cameras and mute themselves, should they prefer to do so. If you prefer to remain anonymous within the group, or plan to sign in under a different name from the name you have used for registration and purchase of your ticket, please contact the organizer prior to the event. Thanks.

While some of our events are open to both men and women, THIS IS A FEMALE ONLY EVENT. We ask that our male allies respect our right to meet together as women.

Update on SB 107 & 923

SB 107 and SB 923, the “Gender-Affirming” healthcare bills are both now in the California Assembly Appropriations Committee and are scheduled for a hearing on August 3rd.

Please call, write, fax, and tweet the members of the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee and urge them to Vote NO on #SB923. Contact info here. Sample tweets/posts here.

Please Submit a Statement! Regardless of where you reside, you can submit statements on the following website: https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/

For talking points and contact info for the Appropriations Committee, see: CA Appropriations Committee – SB 107 & 923.

Update on SB 923 – Hearing on Tuesday 6-21!!

The next step for SB 923 is the hearing in the California Assembly Health Committee on this coming Tuesday, June 21st, at 1:30 p.m. There will be no phone-in testimony for this hearing; in person only. If you are able to attend in person, go to California Assembly, 1021 O Street, Room 1100, Sacramento, California 95814-5704.  To livestream the hearing, go to: Assembly Health Committee hearing.

Please call all members of the health committee and urge them to vote NO on SB 923!  If you’re on Twitter, tweet @JimWoodAD2, @MarieWaldron75, @drarambulaAD31, @FrankBigelowCA, @AsmCarrillo, @HeathFloraCA, @BMaienschein, @ChadMayes, @AsmKevinMcCarty, @adrin_nazarian, @AsmLuzRivas, @AsmRodriguez52, @SantiagoAD53.

URGE THE CALIFORNIA SENATE TO VOTE NO ON SB 923!!

Senator Scott Wiener of California has introduced a bill, SB 923, “Gender Affirming Care” that would require all medical personnel in California to subscribe to gender ideology and submit to “cultural competency training” by trans activists.  It has now passed both the Health Committee and the Appropriations Committee and is headed to the floor for consideration on May 23rd, 2022!
We are asking everyone to call all the members of the California Senate and tell them to oppose SB 923. A list of talking points can be found here.

CALL THE SENATE TO OPPOSE LEVINE NOMINATION

Call the Senate and oppose Rachel (formerly Richard) Levine’s nomination as Assistant Health Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  In his alacrity to elevate trans “rights”, Biden has made a point of appointing Levine, a trans-identified male, to this important position.  As was made clear by his refusal to answer pertinent questions by Senator Rand Paul about his views on medicalization of minors, he will undoubtedly be pushing for “affirmative” treatment which will include not only puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, but surgery as well.  This is medical experimentation on children who cannot give informed consent, and Levine’s nomination to this powerful position should be opposed as irreversible harm has been done by these interventions.

SENATE PHONE NUMBER IS: 202-224-3121. Press #1 for Senate, ask for your state, then select your senators, one at a time and speak to the staff or leave a message.  Also please call as many of the senators on the  Health, Education, & Labor Committee as you can and tweet them.

You may also wish to write an email in addition, but calling is more effective.  Here are some sample tweets:

CALL THE SENATE at 202-224-3121 TO OPPOSE #LEVINENOMINATION for ASSISTANT HEALTH SECRETARY-We believe Levine would pose a serious threat 2 health&safety of children due to refusing to answer questions regarding the medicalization of minors assoc’d w/ ‘affirmative’ treatment RTWT

CALL THE SENATE at 202-224-3121 TO OPPOSE #LEVINENOMINATION for ASSISTANT HEALTH SECRETARY-We believe Levine would pose a serious threat to health & safety of children due to refusing to answer questions regarding the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery RTWT

CALL THE SENATE at 202-224-3121 TO OPPOSE #LEVINENOMINATION for ASSISTANT HEALTH SECRETARY-We believe Levine would pose a serious threat to health & safety of children as ‘affirmative’ treatment=harmful medical experimentation on children who cannot give informed consent. RTWT

@SenatorBurr @SenatorCollins @MurkowskiS @SenTuberville @RogerMarshallMD @SenatorRomney @JerryMoran @RandPaul @SenBillCassidy @SenatorBraun @SenatorTimScott RTWT

VOTE NO ON THE CONFIRMATION OF #RACHELLEVINE!!

@SenBobCasey @SenMurphyOffice @SenatorHassan @SenJackyRosen @SenatorHick @SenatorBern @SenatorBaldwin @timkaine @SenTinaSmith @SenatorLujan RTWT

VOTE NO ON THE CONFIRMATION OF #RACHELLEVINE!!