We have learned that some of the defendants targeted by the Riverside Police and D.A. have had the charges dropped against them for felony vandalism (for writing a message in chalk!), and that the charges have been reduced for the others. It is still imperative that Mike Hestrin, Riverside D.A., hear from us. Please call him at 951.955.5400 and tweet him @DA_MikeHestrin and @RivCoDA and demand that these outrageous charges against peaceful protesters expressing their First Amendment rights be dropped!
Tag: First Amendment
SB 923 Passes in California Senate
In a vote along strict partisan lines, the Senate voted yesterday to pass the atrocious “Gender-Affirming Care” bill, SB 923, 28 to 7, with 2 Republicans, Senator Shannon Grove of District 16, and Senator Rosalicie Ochoa Bogh, and 3 Democrats not voting.
Per usual, the Democrats in the state legislature chose to endorse and codify gender ideology, junk science, sex denialism, and “affirmative care,” a euphemism for lifelong medicalization, sterilization, and mutilation of children and youth, heedless to pleas from feminists, detransitioners, parents, and medical professionals to vote NO.
We are particularly disappointed in the Democratic women legislators who voted for this bill, namely: Nancy Skinner of District 9; Maria Elena Durazo of District 24; Melissa Hurtado of District 14; Susan Rubio of District 22; Susan Talamantes Eggman of District 5; Monique Limon of District 19; Connie Leyva of District 20; Sydney Kamlager of District 30; Lena Gonzalez of District 33; and Toni Atkins of District 39. We are also disappointed that the two Republican Senators, Grove and Ochoa Bogh, did not vote on this bill, as their votes almost certainly would have been in opposition, Grove having voted against SB 923 in the Senate Health Committee.
We invite anyone who cares about the First Amendment and the right to dissent, scientific reality, ethical medical and psychiatric treatment, responsible use of public funds, or women’s sex-based rights to contact your Senator and let her/him know how you feel about how s/he voted!
SB 923 is going to the Assembly next where we need to mount a fierce resistance to its passage. Join us in this fight!
A Guarded Thanks to Seattle Public Library
Feminists in Struggle previously wrote the Seattle Public Library on behalf of the WoLF event, “Fighting the New Misogyny,” scheduled for February 1, urging the library to honor the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution and allow the event to go on despite attempts to shut it down by the trans community. We have now written the library to thank them for going ahead with the event, but in view of the inordinate amount of time that it took for them to reach this decision, and their having had multiple hearings and events for this population, we thought we should remind them of the fact that women, adult human females, are still a marginalized group who need future events focused on the multiple ways in which we experience discrimination based on our sex. See below for full text of our statement.
To: Seattle Public Library
From: Feminists in Struggle
While we’re gratified to learn that the Seattle Public Library has decided to honor free speech and allow women to speak in the “Fighting the New Misogyny” event put on by the Women’s Liberation Front scheduled for February 1, we wish to remind the library and its board that this is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. As such, there should have been no question whatsoever as to what the correct decision should have been, nor any delay in reaching it, particularly on behalf of a public institution such as yours.
We hope that future such events will not only be scheduled unimpeded, but that any opposition by those who think it is acceptable to deny women the right to speak will be firmly resisted by your board, your decision reached in a much more expeditious manner, and said events be allowed to go on with your unswerving public support. Women, adult human females, are a marginalized group as well, are still second class citizens in 2020 with no standing in the federal Constitution, even though we are 52% of the population! We deserve many more opportunities to speak not only on this topic, but many others such as #MeToo, ratification of the ERA, FGM, and male violence towards women to name a few. It is our sincere hope that you will readily give women the respect we deserve in the future.
A Message to the New York City Public Library
To: The New York City Public Library
From: Feminists in Struggle
We are a national group that fights for women’s rights, with members from across the United States. We are appalled by your recent decision to cancel a planned event by the group Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF). By denying one group access to the Library, you have not only violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but have, in effect, become censors, in direct contradiction to the core principles of the history of your own institution!
The American Library Association, the oldest U.S library professional organization, has stated in its Library Bill of Rights: “VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.”
Even during the “communist witch-hunt period” of the 1950’s the Library Service stood its ground and refused to bow to enormous and intimidating pressure from Senator Joseph McCarthy, et al, by refusing to remove library books deemed “subversive” by his committee. Your recent decision flies in the face of this proud tradition of defending the rights of public library users to be exposed to a diversity of opinion.
Recently, the Seattle Public Library, when faced with a similar decision, regarding this same group (WoLF), made a decision opposite your own. Their statement reads as follows:
These values are easy to stand by when we agree with the viewpoints being shared, but when viewpoints challenge us in uncomfortable ways, it certainly becomes more difficult. It is in these difficult moments we must stand particularly firm in supporting the right to free speech in order to preserve that right for everyone.
We strongly urge you to follow their lead and look forward to your rescinding this terrible decision and replacing it with one that is more in line with both the proud history of the U.S. Library Service and the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution!
Statement to SPL re Fighting the New Misogyny Event
To: Seattle Public Library Board of Directors and Chief Librarian
From: Feminists in Struggle (FIST)
Feminists in Struggle (FIST) https://feministstruggle.org/ urges the Seattle Public library to resist the pressure to cancel the talk entitled “Fighting the New Misogyny: A Feminist Critique of Gender Identity” scheduled for February 1st at your library. Free speech is a bedrock principle of our Constitution. Public Libraries in particular should be beacons of intellectual freedom, and the free exchange of ideas. To censor opinions on controversial issues such as whether policies related to gender identity may infringe on the rights of women and girls, violates your own library’s intellectual freedom policies and your obligation as a public entity to preserve our First Amendment rights. Please stand firm in defense of free speech and refuse to cancel this event.