California NOW

It's About Time!

The State Supreme Court has declared that lesbian and gay couples have the right to marry under the California constitution. In a 4-3 decision, the court said the ban on same-sex marriage violates the "fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship." Marriage licenses can begin being issued as soon as 30 days after the decision.

Thanks to the Justices for finally admitting that a family is more than just "one-man/one-woman."

Of course, no groundbreaking decision for civil rights would be complete without a conservative challenge trying to turn back the clock. Conservative religious organizations have submitted more than 1.1 million initiative petition signatures to change the California constitution to ban equal marriage rights, and officials are working to determine if enough of them are valid.

If the measure qualifies for the ballot, we'll face a real fight in November. The opposite-sex-only ballot initiative in 2000 was approved by over 60% of voters, and if the constitutional amendment initiative is approved by voters this year it will supersede the court's ruling today. We need to join forces with LGBTQ allies to give a real push to defeat the November initiative and secure marriage rights for all Californians! Pledge to vote NO on the initiative.

One bright spot, the initiative does not say whether it would apply retroactively to annul marriages performed before November, an omission that would wind up before the courts. I'm sure the run-up to November will see many long-time lesbian and gay couples taking advantage of the opportunity to legally marry in California.

Thanks are due to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who started this whole legal process off in 2004 by ordering the San Francisco city clerk to issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of their gender. The 23 brave same-sex couples who have taken their fight for marriage equality all the way to the State Supreme Court can truly celebrate their marriages today. Read more of the history of Marriage Equality in California.

Let's hope other states will follow the lead that Massachusetts, and now California, have set!

UPDATE: Schwarzenegger supports the decision! After vetoing the Marriage Equality bills that landed on his desk, it's nice to see him doing the right thing. The Governor said: “I respect the Court's decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling. Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling.”

Our Governor Sucks

Governor Schwarzenegger released his revised budget today, and guess who is getting screwed over? He's proposed $627 million in cuts to health care and human services programs for the poor, while his own administration has said that the need for assistance is growing. Never fails that the state's most vulnerable bear the brunt in a crisis; and pretty much in general.

Supreme Court Decision Tomorrow!

The California Supreme Court will rule on the California marriage case tomorrow! Join Sacramento NOW, elected officials, local leaders and LGBT families for the community gathering we told you about yesterday.

You can contact Ali Bay, at Equality California for more details.

Win or lose, we have been in this fight together, be together to hear the reading of the Court’s decision. The nation – and the world – will be watching.

Keep Birth Control Affordable!

Making birth control affordable for college students and low-income women should be a no-brainer, but sometimes things fall through the cracks.

That's just what happened when Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), which contained a provision so that as of January 2007, every college and university health center and hundreds of safety-net providers were unintentionally cut off from accessing low-cost birth control. As a result, women picking up their monthly supplies of birth control found that the cost had jumped from just $5-10 to $40-50 per pack, making it far more difficult to afford.

I remember how tight my monthly budget was when I was in college, and finding an extra $35 or more per month would have been impossible unless I decided not to eat for a couple of weeks! Birth control pills are not only one of the most effective methods of pregnancy prevention, it's one that is entirely woman-controlled. It is essential that Congress restore access to low-cost contraceptives!

The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act is legislation that would make a no-cost fix to the DRA. This legislation would not cost the federal government or state Medicaid agencies anything. It would merely allow drug manufacturers to offer deeply discounted prices to safety-net health care providers.

Tell Congress to restore access to low-cost birth control before they leave on recess!

These "girls" cross all boundaries...

HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS SPENT THEIR SUMMER is a visual conversation of sexuality across cultures and generations of women. The film opens this weekend through Maya Releasing - make sure to check it out!

Don't Weep Over Health Care Crisis - WEAP!

The Women’s Economic Agenda Project (WEAP) has a great event scheduled for tomorrow addressing the crucial problem of healthcare in the United States. There will be discussion of the problems people face under the current system and how universal, federally funded health coverage can become a reality. Don’t miss out!

Truth Commission- Health Care: A Human Right - Oakland, CA
When: Thursday, May 15th, 2008 from 10am-1pm
Where: Oakland - 925 Brockhurst, St. Mary's Senior Center
What: A unique Public Hearing to build a movement. Our goal is to help all America's people get quality health care. We are fed up with suffering and we are standing up for a new vision.

Why Women Should Rule the World

Dee Dee Myers, former White House Press Secretary recently wrote a book detailing how women make a significant contribution in society when they are given high-powered roles. Myers examines different biological traits between women and men, and how that impacts the workplace. She asserts that women work better cooperatively and accomplish more in comparison to men in similar positions. She also stresses the importance of motherhood and how it hones skills that are very useful in the workplace like multi-tasking and innovative problem solving. There are interesting case studies with personal stories of high-powered women highlighting the challenges they have faced in breaking glass ceiling. However, Myers emphasizes that even when women make it to the top, they are still treated differently from their male counterparts and have to fight hard to be heard and taken seriously. This is a provocative read and very timely! Good Luck today Hillary.

Do the Right Thing, CA Supreme Court!

Get ready! The California Supreme Court rulings on the marriage equality cases is due any day. We'll let you know as soon as we hear, but get ready to rally--in protest or support--as soon as it comes out. (Note the clever choice of phrase.)

In Sacramento, a community response rally, a Celebration of Love and Equality, will be hosted by Equality California at the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, 1927 "L" ST, Sacramento, 95811, at 7:00 PM on the day the ruling is issued.

Organizers ask you to bring your California flags to illustrate that this ruling affects ALL California families. (You can purchase California flags for $1.00 at The Wishing Well Party Store, 1880 9th ST at the corner of 9th & S, Sacramento 95814.)

Mothers' Day is Not a Hallmark Holiday!

I always use the term "Mothers' Day" rather than "Mother's Day" because I like to emphasize the collective unity of mothers as a whole. Mothers' Day was originally started after the Civil War, as a protest to the carnage of that war, by women who had lost their sons. Here is the original Mothers' Day Proclamation of Julia Ward Howe from 1870:

"Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace."

You can honor the spirit of the original Mothers' Day proclamation by taking action for women and girls!

• Give a gift membership in CA NOW
• Send a Mothers' Day eCard with MomsRising
• Tell state legislators to make the budget fair to low-income families
• Read the Economic Policy Institute snapshot comparing maternity leave policies in the U.S. and 18 other OECD countries of comparable per capita income
• Support the Family Leave Insurance Act.
• Make a phone call to support grandparents raising children
• Urge Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy to stand strong against Bush's right-wing judicial nominees.
• Support the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
• Ask the appropriate committees in the House and Senate to invest a total of $1 billion in voluntary family planning programs and services for 2009.
• Tell WalMart to change anti-mom policies

Listen Up Advocates!

The CA Commission on the Status of Women will be holding public hearings throughout California on all issues regarding women. They want to hear from you about what issues women and girls are facing and how the state should address them. The hearings will be comprised only of testimony from individuals and organizations, so it’s a great time to get your voice heard by those who recommend policy to the state regarding women and girls.

There will be three hearings:

June 19, 2008
1:30 to 5:30 PM
Hiram Johnson State Building
Milton Marks Auditorium
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102

June 26, 2008
1:30 to 5:30 PM
California Western School of Law
Moot Court Room
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101

July 23, 2008
1 to 5 PM
Lewis Library and Technology Center
Steelworkers Auditorium
8437 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335

For more information visit: www.women.ca.gov

More on How Awesome Women's College Softball Is

As a follow up to my post on women's college softball yesterday, I have to tell you this story. If it doesn't make you want to cry, something is wrong with you.

During a softball game between Central Washington University and Western Oregon University, Senior Sara Tucholsky, Western Oregon's right fielder, hit her first ever home run. On her way to first base, she blew out her knee and literally crawled through the dirt to touch the base but then couldn't go on. The coach consulted the umpire who told her she could bring in a pinch runner, but that Tucholsky would only get credit for an RBI, not a Home Run. Nobody else on her team could touch her, or it'd be an out. That's when Mallory Holtman, the first base player, summoned the short stop and the two carried Tucholsky around the bases, stopping at each one for her to touch it. They carried her around the bases so she wouldn't lose her one college career home run. (You'll also see in this story that all through the game a group of young men stood behind the right field fence and heckled the right fielder... I'm not saying. I'm just saying.)

The story reminded me of the young women at De Anza College who rescued a young woman who was being gang raped at a party. The three young women were athletes on the same team, and that stood out to me right away. Perhaps these young women had a sense of sisterhood, and teamwork, from playing sports together that gave them the courage to stand up to a group of men and carry the young, inebriated victim to safety. What was it about their involvement with sports that influenced them that way, where the accused rapists, many of whom were baseball players, used their team work to rape a 17 year old girl who was passed out drunk?

Women's Softball Symbol of Title IX Success

I spent the afternoon at a women's college softball game. It was awesome in and of itself--incredible athleticism, a fast paced game, and beautiful view in a beautiful stadium--but it was especially awesome today because there were dozens of youth league girls' softball teams there. The girls' teams, including my daughter's team, were invited to come and get a tour of the stadium facilities, and stand on the field during the national anthem. I got misty eyed seeing all the young girls on the field, flanked by these incredible college athletes. I was so proud of this team, too, for the togetherness they showed on the field and the respect they showed their opponents. It was a great experience, and one I thanked Title IX for.

But, although women's participation in college sports has increased by some 440% since Title IX, there is still a big gap. According to the Women's Sports Foundation, "women comprise 57 percent of the college student population but receive only 43 percent of the college athletic opportunities. Besides fighting for access to athletic participation opportunities, female athletes continue to face barriers in sports, such as in the treatment and benefits they receive when they do compete."

So we'll keep fighting for compliance, and better oversight by the OCR, even while we're watching the progress with joy and pride.

Borrowed this great graphic from our friends at the ACLU.

No, There's No Sexism in the Media Coverage of Hillary Clinton

Mark Morford Nails it

As a long-time bay area resident, I love Mark Morford's column for the SF Chronicle because of his irreverent tone and because, whether I agree with him or not, he always makes me think.

Coming on the heels of an AP poll showing Hillary leading against McCain in a potential head-to-head matchup and a Clinton win in the Pennsylvania primary, Morford's column this week pokes at the political conservatives who seem to equate passionate and committed women with bitchiness, and unobtrusive women with "class."

We all know what that distinction between "bitchy" and "classy" means. It's a linguistic code that means women should know their place and not speak up too loudly, at the risk of offending anyone.

Even someone in the powerful position of First Lady isn't supposed to actually use that power to accomplish anything, because that would be "unladylike" or "domineering" or any of the other terms that have been
thrown at Hillary Clinton over the last 16 years.

Hillary isn't the only one who takes the hit here. As Morford points out, the same kinds of accusations were used against Teresa Heinz Kerry and are currently being lobbed against Michelle Obama. I don't think anyone would expect Bill Clinton to idly play host as First Gentleman, but somehow the
idea of a First Lady who does more than serve tea and bake cookies is intimidating to a lot of people.

What is it that makes them so nervous of women?

It makes me think of a slogan I've seen for years on buttons and bumper stickers: "Men of quality respect women's equality." I've always figured that a truly powerful man, one who is secure about who he is, doesn't get scared of powerful women. It takes someone pretty insecure to say, "I'm going to restrict your power because I can't claim my own."

So here's to Hillary Clinton and the great candidates for the California state legislature recently endorsed by the CA NOW PAC, and every other person out there working to help us create a world where a powerful, intelligent woman can speak her mind and not automatically be written off as an overpowering, aggressive hindrance. And here’s to every woman who isn't afraid to go head to head with her critics for speaking her truth and claiming her power. These are the women who get things done!

Scary Budget, Scary Future

There's something I've been hearing about, and it scares me to death.

Of course everyone knows about the subprime mortgage collapse, and how it's driving families out of their homes across the country, and especially in California, where property values had risen so sharply in previous years. The Central Valley now has one of the highest rates of mortgage defaults in the country, and we have seen the recent market fall disproportionately affect women and children.

Now we're starting to hear that the housing market fall is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our national economy.

This article and this video have me really wondering about where we'll be in a few years, as a nation. I have no desire to raise my daughter during a second Great Depression.

It's not just the matter of economic instability and collapse, either. What happens to women's rights when people are worried about simply getting food on the table each day? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs suggests that concern about civil rights goes out the window when people have more immediate needs to worry about. It isn't just women who have to worry; all workers' rights take a hit when the supply of workers is greater than the demand.

Is this part of what we're seeing in our current state budget crisis and the decision to cut programs for some of our state's neediest people?

The Governor's May budget revise will be released on the 14th, and is expected to show a deficit of up to $20 billion. Governor Schwarzenegger is also expected to suggest additional budget cuts at this time, on top of his current proposals to remove some low-income children from the CalWORKs rolls, slash funding to local schools by $443 per student, and reduce grants to disabled women!

Fewer than half of families in California can afford the basics of housing, child care, food, health insurance and transportation. A family of four needs to earn $72,000 a year, more than three times the federal poverty level, just to make ends meet. Single-parent families, most often headed by women, have it even worse.

The state legislature is still debating on how to balance our state budget, and has until June 15th to get a budget to the Governor. With a 2/3 majority needed to pass the budget, every vote is needed! Tell your State Senator and Representative to help ensure that we don't put the weight of fixing our budget crisis on the backs of poor women and children.

Thought we could be reminded of our meaning...

FEMINISM

Pronunciation: \ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1895 (Feminism is from 1851, but meant at first "state of being feminine;" sense of "advocacy of women's rights" is 1895.)
1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

Hey Lesbians, We May Need to Come up with a New Name!

Three residents of the island of Lesbos are taking lesbians to court.  They claim that the organization Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, in using the term lesbian to identify queer women, creates hardships for Lesbos residents. 

Sappho, an ancient Greek poet, was born on the island of Lesbos.  Many of her poems express romantic relationships between women.  From Sappho's birthplace we get out sexual identity.  In her poem, I have not had one word from her, she wrote:

"When she left, she wept
a great deal; she said to me, 'This parting must be
endured, Sappho.  I go, unwillingly.'
I said, 'Go, and be happy
but remember (you know
well) whom you leave shackled by love...'"

According to a spokesperson this is not an attack on lesbians, who create a large tourist trade for the island.  Instead, they want to be able to identify their nationality as Lesbians without having to clarify that they are not homosexual. One of the plaintiff's, however, stated that this use of the term "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos. 

Maybe it's just me, but this stinks a bit of homophobia. Or could it be just a matter of reclaiming national identity? 

Let's Teach Kids that Beauty is only Skin-Deep!

Yes, that's sarcasm you hear. 

A new children's book, My Beautiful Mommy, is scheduled to be released on Mother's Day (reminder, it's May 11th).  The book allows you to "join a young girl as her Mommy goes through her plastic surgery experience, and learn how the whole family pitches in to help Mommy achieves her beautiful results."

Hooray!  Now young girls can start dreaming early about they day that they can become even more beautiful!  After all, that's what we truly value in our society, right?

What do we stand for?

With our ever-changing world demanding us to be many things all at once, sometimes we forget to take time to remind ourselves who we are BEFORE we're asked to be something else.
The women's movement is no different. Women are constantly asked to be all things to all people - nurturing, hard-working, compassionate, beautiful, intelligent, charming, empowered, and so much more. But I realize in my activism, I sometimes forget to check in with myself. I get so wrapped up with event planning and decision making and stand taking that I forget to ask myself why it is I'm planning the event or making the decision or taking a stand.
I need to be reminded of my personal mission in life. What is my purpose? Why am I a feminist? Why do I devote so much of my life to defending, supporting, and empowering women and girls? You'd think after years of participating in feminist activism that the answer would be clear, but sometimes the process dilutes the potency of my efforts, and what I set out to accomplish looks very little like the outcome.
I suppose this is why organizations, businesses, and the like develop mission statements. But sometimes it seems even those are abandoned, as we get swept away in the hustle and bustle of getting the job done - whatever "the job" may be.
Certainly not the most conventional post, I'm asking us all as feminists to look inside ourselves and define our own personal mission statement. In so doing, we will define who we are as feminists, as a feminist organization, as women and men committed to creating equality. So...
Who are we? What do we stand for?

The Pill: Where Would We Be Without It?!

Perhaps nothing changed the course for American women more than the introduction of The Pill. After being officially approved by the FDA, by 1967 12.5 million women relied on the contraceptive to control their own family planning. This kind of control by women of their own destinies affected every aspect of society.

The development of The Pill brought about profound change, much of which would not have happened without Katharine McCormick, an often overlooked hero of the movement for oral contraception. An early feminist, McCormick fought for suffrage, and then, at the age of 75, turned her attention--and her wealth--towards developing safe and effective birth control for women. McCormick was a philanthropist and scientist who put up the money for the testing of the oral contraceptive.

The Pill has a rich and empowering history, and a new book project will examine just how profound its affects were. The book, more generally about the 1960s, includes a chapter exploring the effects of The Pill on American families, and the author of the chapter is looking for subjects to interview. If you were born in the 1960s, and your mother took the pill, email the author of this chapter to set up an interview to tell your story of how if affected her life and therefor yours. If you were on the pill in the 1960s and one of your children would be interested in talking about how it affected their life, contact the author and share your story as well.

Attack on California Lesbian and Gay Couples

Thursday, April 24th was indeed a sad day for lesbian and gay couples and all advocates of equality.  The Equality for All coalition explains,

"Today the right wing extremists that want to unfairly use the laws of California to prevent gay and lesbian couples from getting married are turning in signatures to qualify their proposed marriage ban for the ballot.  They are claiming that they will submit 1.1 million signatures to various county elections officials.  We won't know for several weeks if they have qualified for the ballot but it is highly likely that they will.  That means our work needs to ramp up immediately.  California voters need to understand that the state should not be telling us who can and who cannot get married."

California NOW, as partners in the Equality for All campaign, encourages you to take action now.  We are going to need your involvement to defeat this initiative, should it make it on the ballot.  To find out how you can get involved, visit Equality for All.

The Equality for All campaign is a large and diverse coalition of civil rights, faith, choice, labor and community of color organizations working to stop and defeat any ballot measure that would deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in California.

Senate Agrees Women Should Get Paid Less Than Men

Sound like a headline from The Onion? It's not. It's true.

Today the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Act failed to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate to proceed to a debate and vote.

Check here to see how your senators voted. If they voted yes, tell them thank you. If they voted no, tell them they suck, or some more eloquent version of that, and ask them to reconsider their vote.

From our friends at CodePink and Global Exchange

Anne Lamott is one of my favorite writers on the planet. Check her out at this CodePink and Global Exchange event!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Today communities around the world are celebrating life and giving the planet a big hug. Not sure yet how you'll be celebrating Earth Day? Find an event near you! The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with dozens of CA NOW members at the state conference about the intertwining connections of social justice and ecology. The EcoFeminism Panel hosted a great workshop featuring the commitment of Eco Moms, consumers and activists to take action for the sustainability of our homes, planet and life.

Today I celebrate all the women and men who have contributed to the environmental movement from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring to Vandana Shiva’s relentless efforts in food security to Mary Hunt’s current work on sustainable standard certification.

We can celebrate Earth Day by taking an action pledge, signing a petition to stop global warming and getting a copy of the Spring 08 edition of WE magazine for women which features Mary Hunt as an Earth Advocate!

 

Fair Pay Action: Make This Call TODAY!

Call your senators immediately to urge them to vote "yes" on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act! The Senate is expected to vote on this critical bill for women's equality this Wednesday. You can use this number 866-338-1015, available Monday through Wednesday.

The House has already passed it to correct the recent Supreme Court decision that makes a woman's ability to sue for wage discrimination extremely limited, if not impossible.

This is no brainer stuff. Women should get equal pay for equal work. This fight has gone on too long; we need a victory.