tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/equal-rights-4572/articlesEqual rights – The Conversation2023-07-18T12:30:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2093702023-07-18T12:30:37Z2023-07-18T12:30:37Z175 years ago, the Seneca Falls Convention kicked off the fight for women’s suffrage – an iconic moment deeply shaped by Quaker beliefs on gender and equality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537892/original/file-20230717-184356-6a2tmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C1024%2C676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where on July 19 and 20, 1848, the first women's rights conventions in the U.S. were held.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-the-wesleyan-chapel-in-seneca-falls-new-news-photo/827407736?adppopup=true">Epics/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On July 19, 1848, nearly 300 men and women gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, to begin the United States’ first public political meeting regarding women’s rights. The Seneca Falls Convention resulted in the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/declaration-of-sentiments.htm">Declaration of Sentiments</a>, a document modeled on the U.S. Declaration of Independence that asserted “all men and women are created equal.” </p>
<p>The two-day conference marked the beginning of the movement for women’s suffrage, which would be granted 70 years later by the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution. And it likely wouldn’t have happened without Quakers.</p>
<p>Four of the convention’s five leaders belonged to this Protestant Christian group, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, whose ideas and community deeply shaped the meeting. One of Quakers’ core beliefs is that all men and women possess <a href="https://quaker.org/the-inner-light/">the “inward light</a>” – the light of Christ – and are therefore equal in the eyes of God. This belief led Quakers to recognize women as spiritual leaders, distinguishing them from many other religious groups at the time. </p>
<p>The Quaker women who participated in the gathering at Seneca Falls had been nurtured in a religious community that <a href="https://history.rutgers.edu/people/details/60-faculty-emeriti/162-hewitt-nancy">historian Nancy Hewitt</a> describes as a “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469668727/radical-friend/">rich female world of faith, family, and friendship</a>” – one that led many of them to step into the public sphere and work for social reforms. </p>
<p>As a scholar of <a href="https://museumstudies.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/dr-julie-holcomb">19th century Quaker history</a>, I have found the faith’s women at the forefront of efforts <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501748493/moral-commerce/">to abolish slavery</a>, promote the temperance movement and grant rights to women.</p>
<h2>Women’s souls and service</h2>
<p>Quakerism developed in the 1640s, amid the English Civil War – a time of political and religious turmoil. George Fox, <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/walvin-quakers.html">one of the faith’s founders</a>, spent much of the decade in spiritual wanderings, which led him to conclude the answers he sought came from his direct experience of God. As Quaker historian and theologian <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/dandelion-ben.aspx">Ben Pink Dandelion</a> notes, “This intimacy with Christ, this relationship of direct revelation,” <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/an-introduction-to-quakerism-pink-dandelion/3952779?ean=9780521600880">has defined Quakerism</a> ever since.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white drawing inside a pub shows a man in early modern dress standing on a bench and speaking as if in a trance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537889/original/file-20230717-184356-zmu30b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A painting by E.H. Wehnert depicts George Fox preaching in a tavern.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/george-fox-founder-of-the-society-of-friends-preaching-in-a-news-photo/2666182?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The belief in the “inward light” led Fox and others to encourage women’s spiritual leadership. In <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/fox_g/autobio.vi.html#fna_vi-p56.1">Fox’s later writings</a>, he recalled encountering a religious group who believed women had no souls, “no more than a goose.” Fox objected, reminding them of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A46-55&version=KJV">Mary’s words in the Bible</a> after an angel tells her that she will give birth to God’s son: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” </p>
<p><a href="http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell.html">Margaret Fell</a>, the wife of a wealthy and prominent judge, helped Fox organize his followers into the Society of Friends. Worship meetings took inspiration from the Bible’s <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018%3A20&version=KJV">Book of Matthew</a>: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Quakers worshipped in silence. On occasion, when a worshipper felt moved by the spirit of Christ, they would break the silence to share something with the rest.</p>
<p>Quakers also established <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/an-introduction-to-quakerism-pink-dandelion/3952779?ean=9780521600880">meetings to oversee church business</a>, such as approving marriages, recording births and deaths, and enforcing the faith’s discipline.</p>
<h2>Spreading the faith</h2>
<p>Quaker men and women sometimes met together, and sometimes in separate meetings. Fox believed women might be reluctant to speak up in the company of men, even though they were men’s spiritual equals. </p>
<p><a href="https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/nantucket-women-how-the-quakers-womens-meetings-established-the-foundation-for-the-national-womens-rights-movement/">In their business meetings</a>, Quaker women oversaw relief for the poor, appointed committees to visit women who had strayed from church teachings, and testified on spiritual and social concerns. One woman was selected to serve as a clerk, taking notes on members’ concerns and decisions.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An early modern printed pamphlet's title page, which says 'Womens Speaking' at the top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537891/original/file-20230717-21441-cw2xpr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=972&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The title page for a 1666 edition of Margaret Fell’s ‘Womens Speaking Justified.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1666_Fell_Womens_Speaking_Justified.jpg">Folger Shakespeare Library/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Quakerism attracted a significant number of female converts, some of whom took an active role in spreading the faith. Eleven of the so-called “<a href="https://pendlehill.org/product/george-fox-and-the-valiant-sixty/">valiant sixty</a>” – itinerant ministers who preached Quaker principles in several countries – were women. <a href="https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/223/Elizabeth-Hooton">Elizabeth Hooton</a>, long reputed to be Fox’s first convert, traveled widely in Britain, North America and the Caribbean, preaching and proselytizing. <a href="https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/187/Mary-Fisher">Mary Fisher</a> joined six other Quakers on a spiritual visit to the Ottoman Empire in 1658, where she reported meeting with Sultan Mehmed IV. </p>
<p>Women also produced some of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/new-critical-studies-on-early-quaker-women-1650-1800-9780198814221?cc=us&lang=en&#:%7E:text=and%20Catie%20Gill-,Description,as%20a%20transatlantic%20religious%20body.">earliest texts of Quaker witness</a>, writing about their relationship to God. In 1666, Fell penned <a href="http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell.html">the pamphlet “Women’s Speaking Justified</a>,” a scripture-based argument for the spiritual equality of the sexes. Her text is now recognized as a major 17th century document on women’s religious leadership.</p>
<h2>Acting on faith</h2>
<p>The Quaker women who organized the Seneca Falls Convention were born into this world of female ministry. For women like Philadelphia Quaker <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">Lucretia Mott</a>, one of the Seneca Falls Convention’s organizers, Quaker practice normalized the idea that women, too, should have education, religious authority and the right to speak freely. Mott was also active in the antislavery movement, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-18th-century-quakers-led-a-boycott-of-sugar-to-protest-against-slavery-174114">boycotting slave-labor goods</a> such as cotton and sugar and organizing women in associations like the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. </p>
<p>Indeed, Quakers’ commitment to equality and community led many men and women to become social activists – but not without controversy. In the 1820s and again in the 1840s, the Society of Friends experienced a series of divisions over Quakers’ involvement in the antislavery movement and other reforms. Some saw activism as a natural manifestation of Quaker beliefs, but others feared that it threatened the group’s spiritual unity.</p>
<p>In 1848 – the same year as the Seneca Falls Convention – 200 Quakers made the decision to break from their yearly meeting, their local association. Citing their “<a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">rights of conscience</a>,” these men and women later formed the Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends. Congregational Friends believed their faith required them to take steps toward abolishing slavery, and many also felt compelled to seek rights for women.</p>
<h2>‘Simply human rights’</h2>
<p>Just weeks after the Quaker split, Mott joined with four other women – her sister Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, Mary Ann M’Clintock and Elizabeth Cady Stanton – to organize a women’s rights convention. Among them, Stanton was the only non-Quaker. She and Mott had met during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1607">World’s Anti-Slavery Convention</a> in 1848, held in London, where British organizers refused to recognize the American female delegates because of their gender.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A formal, black-and-white photo of an older woman wearing a gauzy bonnet and shawl." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537893/original/file-20230717-98971-edauh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1072&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A photo of Quaker social reformer Lucretia Mott, signed by Philadelphia photographer Frederick Gutekunst.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucretia_Mott,_signed_photo,_by_F._Gutekunst.jpg">Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Although the women agreed on the necessity of a women’s rights convention, they disagreed on the form and content. At their initial meeting, <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">the five proposed to discuss the “social, civil, and religious condition of women”</a> – placing women’s oppression within a larger constellation of social evils. Stanton, however, listed the lack of suffrage as woman’s most urgent grievance. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the Seneca Falls Convention produced the Declaration of Sentiments, which celebrated women’s worthiness, criticized their subjugation and articulated the rights they deserved. Participants also passed <a href="https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/Womens-Rights.pdf">12 resolutions</a> designed to provide for women’s equality, affirming their right to occupy “such a station in society” as their “conscience shall dictate,” and their “sacred right to the elective franchise.”</p>
<p>The Quaker influence on the convention is most apparent in the differing views held by its two most influential leaders, Stanton and Mott. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/elizabeth-cady-stanton.htm">Stanton rejected</a> the need to introduce other issues into the fight for women’s rights, believing that once women gained political and legal power, more reforms would follow.</p>
<p>Mott, on the other hand, saw women’s oppression as one of many threats to individual liberty, from slavery and abusive prisons to the treatment of Native Americans. Real change, she believed, would require going to the root of the problem: “<a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222791/lucretia-motts-heresy/">mindless tradition and savage greed</a>.” As Mott <a href="https://www.wwhp.org/Resources/davis_history.html">would later note</a>, “Among Quakers there had never been any talk of woman’s rights – it was simply human rights.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie L. Holcomb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most of the convention’s core organizers were Quakers. The religious movement’s beliefs about men and women’s equality before God has shaped members’ activism for centuries.Julie L. Holcomb, Professor of Museum Studies, Baylor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067312023-06-30T12:39:52Z2023-06-30T12:39:52ZFrom Stonewall to Pride, the fight for equal rights has been rooted in resistance led by Black transwomen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534655/original/file-20230628-4980-adwtxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=215%2C26%2C982%2C777&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An unidentified participant in a New York City Pride March during the 1980s. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-an-unidentified-participant-dressed-in-a-blue-news-photo/1250531142?adppopup=true">Mariett Pathy Allen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Its unclear who threw the first brick at Stonewall Inn on that night in New York City that arguably launched the gay rights liberation movement. </p>
<p>As part of queer lore, <a href="https://ucnj.org/mpj/about-marsha-p-johnson/">Marsha P. Johnson</a>, a Black transwoman at the forefront of gay liberation, or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sylvia-Rivera">Sylvia Rivera</a>, a Latina transwoman, was the first. But based on their accounts of that night of June 28, 1969, neither threw that first brick. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-llnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=I+was+uptown+and+I+didn%E2%80%99t+get+downtown+until+about+two+o%E2%80%99clock.+When+I+got+downtown,+the+place+was+already+on+fire,+and+there+was+a+raid+already.+The+riots+had+already+started.&source=bl&ots=ZXLgGQdf90&sig=ACfU3U1okjsWKzcQQk4czZfJjSKqPSEtcA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiTlNGh_6nqAhU4mnIEHbymCuUQ6AEwAHoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=I%20was%20uptown%20and%20I%20didn%E2%80%99t%20get%20downtown%20until%20about%20two%20o%E2%80%99clock.%20When%20I%20got%20downtown%2C%20the%20place%20was%20already%20on%20fire%2C%20and%20there%20was%20a%20raid%20already.%20The%20riots%20had%20already%20started.&f=false">Johnson admitted</a> to arriving after the riots had started, and Rivera <a href="https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/riverarisingandstronger.html">explained in an interview</a>:</p>
<p>“I have been given the credit for throwing the first Molotov cocktail by many historians, but I always like to correct it. I threw the second one; I did not throw the first one!”</p>
<p>The most likely scenario does not involve a brick or Molotov cocktail but rather the pleas of <a href="https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/05/27/who-threw-the-first-brick-at-stonewall-uprising-riot-pride/">Storme DeLarverie</a>, a mixed-race lesbian.</p>
<p>While she was being thrown into the back of a police car, she asked her queer brothers and sisters, “Aren’t you going to do something?”</p>
<p>Because of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-why-did-mafia-own-bar/">Mafia ownership</a> and stringent liquor laws, the Stonewall Inn, a popular night spot for the queer community, was an <a href="https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/disasters/riots-stonewall.html">easy target for police raids</a> during the 1960s.</p>
<p>At approximately 2 a.m., New York police officers arrived to clear out the bar at its closing time. Initially, most patrons were cooperative, but as harassment and arrests increased, the mostly queer patrons fought back.</p>
<p>Though the details of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/us/first-brick-at-stonewall-lgbtq.html#:%7E:text=The%20gay%20rights%20movement%20was,tactical%20police%20in%20riot%20gear.">the origins of that night</a> remain murky, what is clear is that both Johnson and Rivera were there and would later become anchors of gay rights and queer resistance.</p>
<p>Their protests, as well as the actions of other Black gay people in an earlier and little-known act of defiance, demonstrate how queer women of color were often overlooked but at the forefront of gay liberation. </p>
<p>Despite some social progress, Black transwomen continue to pay the price, sometimes with their lives. </p>
<h2>Misperceptions of the Stonewall Riots</h2>
<p>As a first-generation Black American and gay professor who <a href="https://emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/deion-hawkins">researches the intersection</a> of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9843143/">race and health</a>, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00026/full">HIV</a> and <a href="https://journals.upress.ufl.edu/rhm/article/view/1775">queer activism</a>, I look for ways to better teach queer activism during my <a href="https://professional.emerson.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1010305&selectedProgramAreaId=1009727&selectedProgramStreamId=1009758">rhetoric of social movements course</a>. </p>
<p>I have learned that the story of Stonewall became popularized when a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGEJmPwB4yI">movie was released</a> in 2015. But the “Stonewall” movie was met with <a href="https://people.com/movies/stonewall-movie-roland-emmerich-and-jeremy-irvine-defend-whitewashing-criticism/">harsh criticism</a> for whitewashing the story and omitting the role of Black and Latina queer people.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A queer Black man is wearing an outfit that has shiny black crystals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534677/original/file-20230628-27-xv7gek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson wears a black sequined jumpsuit during a 1982 Pride March.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-gay-liberation-activist-marsha-p-johnson-along-news-photo/1392246163?adppopup=true">Barbara Alper/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In the movie, a gay white man throws the first brick, but almost every public account of the night <a href="https://www.them.us/story/who-threw-the-first-brick-at-stonewall">discredits this version</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, it was <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-black-and-brown-activists-who-started-pride/">queer people of color</a>, especially gender nonconforming individuals, who led the charge. These individuals and other examples of queer resistance are often erased and forgotten in popular culture. </p>
<h2>An overlooked act of defiance</h2>
<p>Stonewall was not the first act of public defiance by a gay community.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2018/8/02/dont-let-history-forget-about-comptons-cafeteria-riot">Compton’s Cafeteria riot</a> took place about three years before Stonewall and nearly 3,000 miles away in San Francisco. </p>
<p>Compton’s Cafeteria, located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, was a popular late-night gathering spot in the 1960s for transgender people, particularly transwomen. </p>
<p>But the cafeteria’s management and the police subjected these marginalized communities to harassment and constant mistreatment. Transwomen were often arrested under <a href="https://www.glbthistory.org/newsletter-blog-2020/08-feature">female impersonation laws</a> and faced public humiliation and enduring physical violence. </p>
<p>In August 1966, a pivotal incident at Compton’s Cafeteria sparked the flames of resistance. </p>
<p>The documentary “<a href="https://itvs.org/films/screaming-queens/">Screaming Queens</a>” highlights the injustice faced by the trans community at the time, which was <a href="https://sfstandard.com/arts-culture/trans-history-comptons-cafeteria-riot-transgender-remembrance-day-tenderloin/">mostly women of color</a> engaging in sex work.</p>
<p>After years of enduring mistreatment, a group of transwomen, drag queens and gender-nonconforming individuals decided they had endured enough. </p>
<p>When a police officer attempted to arrest one of the transwomen, she defiantly threw her cup of hot coffee in his face. Within a few moments, patrons overturned a police car. </p>
<p>This act of resistance ignited a spontaneous uprising within the cafeteria and on the streets. By the time it was over, police had arrested dozens of people and beaten countless others.</p>
<p>Although the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/21/stonewall-san-francisco-riot-tenderloin-neighborhood-trans-women">Compton’s Cafeteria riot</a> did not receive the same level of national attention as other events, it had a profound and lasting impact. </p>
<h2>Hate still runs rampant</h2>
<p>Despite these acts of public defiance and growing public acceptance,
transwomen of color repeatedly report higher <a href="https://www.thetaskforce.org/new-analysis-shows-startling-levels-of-discrimination-against-black-transgender-people/">rates of unemployment</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2020.1848691">elevated rates of stigma</a> from health care providers, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/981309903/theres-a-backdrop-of-historic-distrust-in-police-to-solve-murders-of-trans-peopl">shattered trust with law enforcement</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0414-trans-HIV.html">disproportionate rates of HIV</a> and other ailments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A demonstrator holds a sign a that supports Black transsexuals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534682/original/file-20230628-19349-ow06qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A demonstrator takes part in the Queer Liberation March on June 28, 2020, in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-estimated-20-000-demonstrators-take-part-in-the-queer-news-photo/1223412024?adppopup=true">David Dee Delgado/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In addition, the murder of transpeople <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-community-murder-rates-everytown-for-gun-safety-report/">nearly doubled from 29 deaths in 2017 to 56 in 2021</a>, according to the nonprofit <a href="https://everytownresearch.org/report/remembering-and-honoring-pulse/">Everytown for Gun Safety</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2022">The Human Rights Commission</a> notes that Black and Latina transwomen are at the highest risk of violence, with some assailants being able to skirt jail time due to “<a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/gay-trans-panic-press-release/">gay/trans panic defense </a>,” which enables a suspect to blame their violent reaction on the victim’s sexuality.</p>
<p>So far in 2023, the murders of <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2023/03/06/neenah-man-charged-in-milwaukee-homicide-of-cashay-henderson/69975920007/">Cashay Henderson</a>, a Black transwoman and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arrest-made-killing-koko-da-doll-atlanta-rcna81904">KoKo Da Doll</a>, the lead actor in “Kokomo City,” <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/03/kokomo-city-sundance-berlin-award-winning-documentary-magnolia-pictures-director-d-smith-subjects-daniella-carter-dominque-silver-interviews-1235275833/">a Sundance Award-winning documentary</a>, serve as tragic reminders of the ongoing violence and discrimination targeting queer people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deion Scott Hawkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As violent attacks against gay people continue to increase in the US, Black transwomen face ongoing battles against discrimination in the workplace and over receiving health care.Deion Scott Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Argumentation & Advocacy, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2012472023-06-06T12:31:30Z2023-06-06T12:31:30ZSupreme Court is poised to dismantle an integral part of LBJ’s Great Society – affirmative action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530134/original/file-20230605-15-3psr8n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=271%2C116%2C2319%2C1487&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Lyndon Johnson delivers the commencement address at Howard University on June 4, 1965. </span> </figcaption></figure><p>Of all the civil rights policies enacted by U.S President Lyndon Johnson, affirmative action is arguably one of the most enduring – and most challenged. </p>
<p>Johnson made it clear during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcfAuodA2x8">commencement address</a> at <a href="http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/1965/06-04-1965.html">Howard University</a> on June 4, 1965, where he stood. </p>
<p>In his speech, “<a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/to-fulfill-these-rights/9780231183093">To Fulfill These Rights</a>,” Johnson argued that civil rights were only as secure as society and the government were willing to make them.</p>
<p>“Nothing in any country touches us more profoundly, and nothing is more freighted with meaning for our own destiny than the revolution of the Negro American,” Johnson said. </p>
<p>In my view as a scholar of the history of affirmative action, Johnson’s speech and the legal structure it helped produce directly contradict those who would dismantle affirmative action and besmirch diversity programs today.</p>
<p>As the Supreme Court looks ready to strike down affirmative action in college admissions, it’s my belief that unlike the court’s conservative majority, Johnson understood that the U.S. could not serve as a moral leader around the world if it did not acknowledge its past of racial injustices and try to make amends. </p>
<h2>‘Equality as a result’</h2>
<p>Johnson knew that changing laws was only part of the solution to racial disparities and systemic racism. </p>
<p>“<a href="http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/1965/06-04-1965.html">Freedom is not enough</a>,” he declared. “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘you are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” </p>
<p>In proposing to address these injustices, Johnson laid out a phrase that would become a defense of affirmative action.</p>
<p>“We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.” </p>
<p>Achieving this latter goal, Johnson explained, would be the “more profound stage of the battle for civil rights.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man dressed in a business suit talks with a Black woman who is smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529379/original/file-20230531-21-dofez7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Lyndon Johnson chats with Howard law professor Patricia Harris after Howard’s commencement on June 4, 1965.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/washington-dc-president-johnson-chats-with-mrs-patricia-r-news-photo/514870364?adppopup=true">Bettmann/GettyImages</a></span>
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<p>Johnson rejected the idea that individual merit was the sole basis for measuring equality. </p>
<p>“Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighborhood you live in – by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings,” <a href="http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/1965/06-04-1965.html">Johnson said</a>. “It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child, and finally the man.” </p>
<p>Johnson took a structural view of discrimination against Black Americans and explained that racial differences could not “be understood as isolated infirmities.”</p>
<p>“They are a seamless web,” Johnson said. “They cause each other. They result from each other. They reinforce each other.” </p>
<p>“Negro poverty is not white poverty,” Johnson said, “but rather the consequence of ancient brutality, past injustice and present prejudice.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged white man stands in front of a crowd of people as he hands a pen to a Black man dressed in a business suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529629/original/file-20230601-27-eg58z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Lyndon Johnson hands a pen to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after signing the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-lyndon-b-johnson-hands-a-pen-to-civil-rights-news-photo/1749781?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Johnson also rejected comparisons to other minorities who immigrated to the U.S. and had allegedly overcome discrimination through assimilation. </p>
<p>“They did not have the heritage of centuries to overcome,” Johnson said, “and they did not have a cultural tradition which had been twisted and battered by endless years of hatred and hopelessness, nor were they excluded – these others – because of race or color – a feeling whose dark intensity is matched by no other prejudice in our society.”</p>
<h2>A constant challenge</h2>
<p>That profound battle over how to address the <a href="https://glc.yale.edu/legacies-american-slavery/what-is-a-legacy-of-slavery">legacies of slavery</a>, <a href="https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/what.htm">Jim Crow</a> and <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/racial-inequality-in-the-united-states">modern-day inequalities</a> is once again before the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Though the court is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-diverse-supreme-court-grapples-with-affirmative-action-with-its-justices-of-color-split-sharply-on-the-meaning-of-equal-protection-196554">most diverse in American history</a> – with three justices of color and four women – the conservatives, who have historically <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/159007/conservative-misdirection-affirmative-action-debate">opposed affirmative action programs</a>, hold a 6-3 majority. </p>
<p>And that majority has the power to ban the use of race when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/us/politics/supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc.html">the court issues a decision</a> in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. A decision is expected in June 2023.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five men and four women are wearing black robes as they pose for a portrait." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Supreme Court, from left in front row: Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan; and from left in back row: Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-states-supreme-court-associate-justice-sonia-news-photo/1431388794?phrase=us%20supreme%20clarence%20thomas&adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>At the time of Johnson’s speech, the U.S. faced <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/vietnam-war-protests-at-the-white-house">growing opposition</a> to its escalating war in Vietnam and <a href="https://prde.upress.virginia.edu/content/CivilRights">racial unrest</a> across the country. </p>
<p>But Johnson was determined to achieve his goal of racial equality. During his commencement address, Johnson heralded the passage of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act">1964 Civil Rights Act</a> that he signed into law on July 2, 1964, and prohibited workplace discrimination. He also promised passage of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act#:%7E:text=This%20act%20was%20signed%20into,as%20a%20prerequisite%20to%20voting">Voting Rights Act</a> that would ban discriminatory voting practices. Johnson signed that into law on Aug. 6, 1965. </p>
<p>And shortly after his speech, Johnson signed <a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html">Executive Order 11246</a> on Sept. 24, 1965. </p>
<p>It charged the Department of Labor with taking “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed … without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” </p>
<p>For Johnson, racial justice was attainable and, once achieved, would alleviate social strife at home and advance the United States’ standing abroad. </p>
<p>Despite urging civil rights activists to “light that candle of understanding in the heart of all America,” even Johnson became disillusioned with the racial politics of forming a more perfect union.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of urban riots in Newark, New Jersey, Detroit and other U.S. cities in 1967, Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders – better known as the <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/national-advisory-commission-civil-disorders-report">Kerner Commission</a> – to investigate the causes of the riots and suggest remedies. </p>
<p>The commission recommended billions of dollars’ worth of new government programs, including sweeping federal initiatives directed at improving educational and employment opportunities, public services and housing in Black urban neighborhoods.</p>
<p>The commission found that “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10730.html">white racism</a>” was the basic cause of the racial unrest.</p>
<p>Although the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589351779/report-updates-landmark-1968-racism-study-finds-more-poverty-more-segregation">report was a bestseller</a>, Johnson found the conclusions politically untenable and distanced himself from the commission report.</p>
<p>Torn between his need to balance Southern votes and his ambition to leave a strong civil rights legacy, Johnson proceeded along a very cautious path. </p>
<p>He did nothing about the report. </p>
<p>U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, Black Massachusetts Republican, was one of the 11 members on the commission.</p>
<p>In his book “<a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/bridging-the-divide/9780813539058">Bridging the Divide</a>,” Brooke explained Johnson’s reticence. </p>
<p>“In retrospect,” he wrote, “I can see that our report was too strong for him to take. It suggested that all his great achievements — his civil rights legislation, his antipoverty programs, Head Start, housing legislation, and all the rest of it – had been only a beginning. It asked him, in an election year, to endorse the idea that white America bore much of the responsibility for black rioting and rebellion.”</p>
<p>Even for a politician like Johnson, that proved too much to handle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Travis Knoll does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>President Lyndon Johnson’s commencement address at Howard University in 1965 offered a compelling argument on the need for affirmative action. His policies have been challenged ever since.Travis Knoll, Adjunct Professor of History, University of North Carolina – CharlotteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1975552023-03-20T13:18:59Z2023-03-20T13:18:59ZLGBTQ+ rights: African Union watchdog goes back on its own word<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504208/original/file-20230112-40319-n0c4ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Denial of observer status robs the three NGOs of a voice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The primary human rights watchdog in Africa recently made a decision that departed from its existing practice. The <a href="https://achpr.org/home">African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>, an independent expert body within the African Union (AU) framework, used sexual or gender identity as the reason it rejected applications for observer status from three non-governmental organisations (NGOs).</p>
<p>The commission said that “sexual orientation” was not an “expressly recognised right” in the <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>. It also said that protecting and promoting sexual and gender minority rights was “contrary to the virtues of African values”.</p>
<p>The decision casts a shadow over the commission’s commitment to advancing the rights of all Africans. It also <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/researchunits/sogie/documents/English_-_JOINT_STATEMENT_ON_DECISION_OF_ACHPR_AT_THE_73RD_SESSION_OF_ACHPR.pdf">seriously erodes its independence from AU states</a>. </p>
<p>One of the commission’s competences is to grant observer status to <a href="https://achpr.au.int/ngos">NGOs</a>. This entitles an NGO to participate in the commission’s public sessions, and make statements drawing attention to the violation of the rights of the most vulnerable, including sexual and gender minorities. </p>
<p>So far, the commission has <a href="https://achpr.au.int/index.php/en/news/final-communiques/2022-11-18/final-communique-73rd-ordinary-session-african-commission-human">granted observer status to 544 NGOs</a>. The three it recently refused observer status to are <a href="https://www.alternative-ci.org/#:%7E:text=Alternative%20C%C3%B4te%20d%E2%80%99Ivoire%20%28ACI%29%20est%20une%20ONG%20cr%C3%A9%C3%A9e,personnes%20LGBTQPour%20la%20promotion%20de%20l%E2%80%99%C3%A9galit%C3%A9%20du%20genre">Alternative Côte d'Ivoire</a>, <a href="http://rightsrwanda.com/">Human Rights First Rwanda</a> and <a href="https://synergiaihr.org/">Synergía – Initiatives for Human Rights</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/successes-of-african-human-rights-court-undermined-by-resistance-from-states-166454">Successes of African Human Rights Court undermined by resistance from states</a>
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<p>The denial of observer status means that the NGOs will not have a voice before the African commission. They will not be able to draw its attention to the human rights violations of LGBTQ+ people in Africa. The move further politicises sexual and gender minority issues in Africa, further restricts civil society functioning, and further marginalises communities and people who have already been stigmatised and excluded. </p>
<h2>Not the first time</h2>
<p>The commission’s decision has a history. In 2015, it granted observer status to a South African-based NGO, the Coalition of African Lesbians. The AU executive council <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/31762-ex_cl_dec_873_-_898_xxvii_e.pdf">directed the commission</a> to withdraw this, on the basis that the NGO attempts to impose values contrary to African values. The executive council is made up of ministers of foreign affairs. Its mandate is to “consider” the commission’s activity reports.</p>
<p>After getting <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/34655-ex_cl_dec_1008_-1030_xxxiii_e.pdf">an ultimatum</a> from the executive council, the commission complied in 2018. </p>
<p>The reversal attracted the <a href="https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-law/news/post_2674950-centre-for-human-rights-calls-for-autonomy-and-independence-of-the-african-commission-to-be-reaffirmed-and-for-action-on-cameroon-and-eritrea">legitimate criticism</a> that the commission was <a href="https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-rise-and-rise-of-political-backlash-african-union-executive-councils-decision-to-review-the-mandate-and-working-methods-of-the-african-commission/#more-16384">not acting independently</a> in supervising state compliance with human rights in Africa.</p>
<p>Its latest decision rests on three pillars. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>It assumes that all three NGOs advocate for the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) persons, without explaining how they do this.</p></li>
<li><p>It argues that because sexual orientation is not a right expressly provided for in the African human rights charter, these NGOs lack a basis to exist.</p></li>
<li><p>The commission holds the view that the NGOs’ work of advancing equal rights and dignity for all, irrespective of sexual orientation, is against African values. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Strong arguments can be mounted against all three. </p>
<h2>The LGBTQ+ question</h2>
<p>In my view the commission is on shaky ground in asserting that the three NGOs pursue a particular LGBTQ+ agenda. A look at the publicly accessible websites of all three casts doubt on this assertion.</p>
<p>In addition, if all NGOs working to advance equality based on sexual orientation were disqualified from observer status, many more would be affected. NGOs may have a particular focus, such as women’s rights, but they increasingly work within the reality of intersectionality. People’s rights are interrelated and indivisible. Thus, women’s rights organisations would inevitably be concerned about the rights of lesbians. </p>
<p>To deny such a body observer status is to negate the interrelatedness of rights.</p>
<h2>Sexual orientation and nondiscrimination</h2>
<p>The commission is also on shaky ground when it comes to the debate about rights. </p>
<p>It is well accepted that there is no distinct “right to sexual orientation”, as such, under human rights law. <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation/sexual-orientation">Sexual orientation</a> is innate to every human being. We all have one, whatever it may be. </p>
<p>The charter to which the commission refers to justify its rejection contains a provision (article 2) setting out an open-ended list of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">non-discrimination grounds</a>. Nothing prevents “sexual orientation” from being read into this list.</p>
<p>The commission’s own practice also contradicts its argument. There are numerous grounds for non-discrimination that the commission has recognised. Take disability. It is not included in article 2. Yet the commission has tacitly accepted that “disability” is a ground <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36440-treaty-protocol_to_the_achpr_on_the_rights_of_persons_with_disabilities_in_africa_e.pdf">on which discrimination is not allowed</a>. The same applies to “age”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/botswana-court-ruling-is-a-ray-of-hope-for-lgbt-people-across-africa-118713">Botswana court ruling is a ray of hope for LGBT people across Africa</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The commission itself has adopted the position that sexual orientation (and gender identity) are grounds on which discrimination under the African Charter cannot be tolerated. <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/researchunits/sogie/documents/resolution_275/Resolution_275_booklet_ENGLISH_02_WEB.pdf">Resolution 275</a>, adopted at the African Commission’s 55th Ordinary Session, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/SP/55thOrdinarySession_en.pdf">in 2014</a>, specifically condemns “systematic attacks by state and non-state actors” against persons because of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identity.</p>
<h2>African values</h2>
<p>Finally, the commission’s approach implies a simplistic view that there is a single set of values that define what “African” is. In a continent of great diversity and dynamism, such a monolithic approach beggars belief.</p>
<p>Through its restrictive interpretation of “African values”, the commission has taken an approach that inhibits human rights. It negates charter values such as tolerance, and the foundational charter premise of equal dignity of all, which is a restatement of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archbishop-tutus-ubuntu-credo-teaches-the-world-about-justice-and-harmony-84730">ubuntu (humanness) principle</a> in <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/policy/african%20charter/1981_AFRICAN%20CHARTER%20ON%20HUMAN%20AND%20PEOPLES%20RIGHTS.pdf">article 29 of the charter</a>.</p>
<p>Discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is not an African value. Discrimination breeds violence, and violence is inimical to respect for human rights. </p>
<p>While 32 African states (60% of them) still criminalise <a href="https://76crimes.com/76-countries-where-homosexuality-is-illegal/">consensual sex between adults</a>, 22 states (40%) have either never <a href="https://theconversation.com/abolition-of-angolas-anti-gay-laws-may-pave-the-way-for-regional-reform-111432">criminalised consensual same-sex acts between adults</a> or no longer do.</p>
<p>The commission’s reasoning on “African values” is an affront to these African states. It is equally an affront to the many non-heterosexual Africans
whose existence is an undeniable matter of human biology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-rights-commission-can-and-should-do-more-for-sexual-minorities-116601">Africa's rights commission can -- and should -- do more for sexual minorities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Two of the NGOs – Alternative Côte d'Ivoire and Human Rights First Rwanda Association – operate legally in countries that do not criminalise same-sex consensual conduct. (Synergía – Initiatives for Human Rights operates from the United States.) The commission implies that Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda are “un-African” because they allow the registration of these NGOs. </p>
<h2>Beyond the setback</h2>
<p>The commission’s decision is clearly a setback. However, those committed to human rights in Africa need to continue supporting the commission, based on its established jurisprudence, including Resolution 275, to ensure that the African Charter protects rights on the continent.</p>
<p>The commission took a step in this direction in January, when it condemned the <a href="https://achpr.au.int/en/news/press-releases/2023-01-07/press-statement-tragic-murder-edwin-chiloba-kenya">homophobic killing of Kenyan gay activist Edwin Choliba</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frans Viljoen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is not an African value.Frans Viljoen, Director and Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1970962023-01-05T20:59:45Z2023-01-05T20:59:45ZIsrael’s Netanyahu facing off against the supreme court and proposing to limit judicial independence - and 3 other threats to Israeli democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503297/original/file-20230105-14-glcfyu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C4%2C3235%2C2062&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israelis protest the new government – the most far-right, religiously conservative in history – on Dec. 29, 2022, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-protestors-hold-placards-and-flags-during-the-news-photo/1245874798?phrase=netanyahu&adppopup=true">Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-set-retake-power-head-far-right-government-2022-12-29/">new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu</a> and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israel-swears-in-netanyahu-as-prime-minister-most-right-wing-government-in-countrys-history">extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history</a> of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.</p>
<p>That threat has not passed unnoticed. <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/1673712799-tel-aviv-sees-major-anti-govt-rally">Tens of thousands of Israelis protested</a> in Tel Aviv during the first weeks of January 2023 against the government’s proposed reform policies. Smaller demonstrations took place in other cities, and organizers promise to keep the heat on. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most important front in the battle is the Israeli Supreme Court. On Jan. 12, court President Esther Hayut gave a highly uncharacteristic public speech in which she warned that the Netanyahu government’s proposed reforms are “meant to be a mortal wound to the independence of the judiciary, and to turn <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-12/ty-article/.premium/a-mortal-wound-to-democracy-israels-chief-justice-slams-netanyahus-legal-overhaul/00000185-a6ff-d948-a1bd-eeffdf2a0000">it into a silent institution</a>.” </p>
<p>The clash came to a head when, on Jan. 18, the justices ruled 10-1 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/18/deri-ineligible-israeli-supreme-court/">against the appointment of Aryeh Deri</a> as a senior minister in Netanyahu’s Cabinet because of what the court said was his “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/middleeast/israel-aryeh-deri-netanyahu-high-court-intl/index.html">backlog of criminal convictions</a>.” Deri, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, served time in jail, and the judges’ ruling said that he should not be in the government. The ruling means that Netanyahu will either face a coalition crisis or else find a way to circumvent the court’s ruling, which will place the government above the law. </p>
<p>The conflict between the Supreme Court and Netanyahu’s government illustrates one of the four ways that Israel’s democratic institutions, customs and practices are endangered by the new government. Here are those threats, based on policies and legislation that have been proposed or are already in process.</p>
<h2>1. Hostility to freedom of speech and dissent</h2>
<p>Prime Minister Netanyahu has been working for years to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-netanyahu-media-insight-idAFKBN0TC1DS20151123">consolidate his grip on Israeli media</a>. The <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-ban-on-racist-mks-annexation-yeshiva-funding-11-key-netanyahu-coalition-plans/">new government plans</a> to accelerate the privatization of media in the hands of friendly interests and brand as anti-Israeli and treasonous media outlets its leaders deem hostile. The signs of this delegitimization are already here.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dozen and a half people standing in three rows for a photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503309/original/file-20230105-24-fu65ps.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ministers of Israel’s 37th government wait to have their group picture taken with the president and prime minister at the president’s residence in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ministers-of-israels-37th-government-wait-to-have-their-news-photo/1245871762?phrase=netanyahu&adppopup=true">Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Even before the newly appointed minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took office, the police briefly arrested and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-journalist-detained-praising-armed-palestinian">interrogated journalist Israel Frey</a> after he posted a controversial tweet hinting that the Israeli military may be a legitimate target of Palestinian attacks. The police claimed the tweet incited terrorism, and the arrest showed journalists who favor an open and free press that they might face retaliation. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahus-party-signs-first-coalition-deal-with-israeli-far-right-2022-11-25/">Ben-Gvir, the head of the Jewish Power party</a> and now overseer of the police, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel/ben-gvir-convicted-of-inciting-to-racism">was convicted in the past</a> for supporting Jewish terrorism and for racist incitement against Israel’s Arab minority. In his inauguration speech on Jan. 1, the new minister branded “Jewish anarchists” – a code he often uses for leftists and human rights organizations – as threats that “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/outgoing-police-minister-urges-force-to-keep-strong-backbone-in-face-of-ben-gvir/">needed to be dealt with</a>.” </p>
<h2>2. Diminishing equal rights</h2>
<p>The Netanyahu government appears poised to allow discrimination against the LGBTQ community and women, thus undermining equality before the law, an important democratic principle. </p>
<p>Incoming <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-12-07/ty-article/.premium/far-right-lawmaker-named-israels-first-national-missions-minister/00000184-ebe0-d523-a3bc-effb32af0000">National Missions Minister Orit Strock</a> said in an interview in late December, “If a doctor is asked to give any type of treatment to someone that violates his religious faith, if there is another doctor who can do it, then you <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/1671976472-doctors-should-be-able-to-refuse-treatment-on-religious-grounds-israeli-lawmaker">can’t force them to provide treatment</a>.” </p>
<p>Netanyahu condemned Strock and other coalition members who stated that gay people could be denied service by businesses if serving them <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-discrimination-benjamin-netanyahu-lgbtq-people-78bcd332053aa26c3c9949eac2264d1c">contradicts the business owner’s religious beliefs</a>. Yet, journalists report that Likud and other coalition partners agreed in writing to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/mk-says-doctors-could-deny-treatment-on-religious-grounds-sparking-uproar/">amend the law against discrimination</a> to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/29/israel-netanyahu-far-right-government-ben-gvir-smotrich">allow exactly such a policy</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/1668953387-israel-s-ultra-orthodox-push-for-gender-segregation-law">During early coalition negotiations</a>, ultra-Orthodox parties demanded new legislation that would allow gender-based segregation in public spaces and events. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed, which means <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-utj-deal-seeks-gender-segregated-public-events-review-of-law-of-return/">these laws are expected to pass the Knesset</a>. Segregation in educational spheres, public transportation and public events is often translated into <a href="https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxyau.wrlc.org/doi/full/10.1111/dome.12030">exclusion of women and weakening of women’s voices</a>, and hence contradicts basic democratic principles such as freedom and equality. </p>
<h2>3. West Bank annexation and apartheid</h2>
<p>The new government’s intention to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/west-bank-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-government-e36ed7260e0398406d9a8ba319b0b741">de facto annex the West Bank</a> will turn hollow Israel’s claims of being the only democracy in the Middle East. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1608039943817007105">a Dec. 28 tweet</a>, Netanyahu announced that his government’s guidelines will include the principle that “the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel,” including the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and populated by a Palestinian majority. </p>
<p>These guidelines, combined with new nominations of <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-smotrich-rights-groups-existential-threat">far right politician Bezalel Smotrich</a> as the minister responsible for Jewish settlements and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahus-party-signs-first-coalition-deal-with-israeli-far-right-2022-11-25/">Ben-Gvir as the minister in charge of the border police</a>, could provide justification for <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/12/us-concerned-over-netanyahu-de-facto-annexing-west-bank">annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories</a>. </p>
<p>Based on much of the rhetoric of right-wing leaders <a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/israels-one-state-movement-in-the-spotlight">such as Smotrich</a>, Palestinian residents of these lands will have neither equal rights nor voting rights. This means apartheid, not democracy.</p>
<h2>4. Erasing the separation of powers</h2>
<p>In the Israeli system, the executive and legislative branches are always controlled by the same coalition. The courts are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties and uphold the country’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2717-0_20-1">Basic Laws</a>, which provide rights <a href="https://m.knesset.gov.il/en/activity/pages/basiclaws.aspx">in the absence of a formal constitution</a>.</p>
<p>But the new government wants to erase this separation of power and <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/46387">explicitly aims at weakening the courts</a>. On Jan. 4, after less than a week in his role, new <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-05/ty-article/.premium/explained-netanyahu-governments-plan-to-weaken-the-justice-system/00000185-8177-d9c9-adbf-e977aabf0000">Minister of Justice Yariv Levin announced the government’s plan</a> for a radical judicial reform, which will include the “override clause.” That clause will allow a simple majority in the Knesset to <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/46387">re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dark-haired woman with glasses in front of an Israeli flag, talking into some microphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503329/original/file-20230105-26-f250x9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new Israeli government plans to allow a simple majority in the Knesset to ignore any action by the Supreme Court to strike down a law as unconstitutional. Esther Hayut, pictured here, is the chief justice of the Supreme Court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-incoming-israeli-president-of-the-supreme-court-esther-news-photo/866698662?phrase=Esther%20Hayut&adppopup=true">Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>This would, in effect, remove all barriers placed upon the power of the majority. The coalition could legislate policies that are not only unconstitutional, but which clearly contradict ideas of human rights and equality that are enshrined in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/12/01/netanyau-israeli-herzl-right-wing/">Israel’s Declaration of Independence</a>. </p>
<p>The government’s plan also includes reforms that would allow the coalition to control nomination of judges. In a small country that does not have a strong constitution and in which there is no separation of power between the executive and legislature, this move, again, would weaken the authority of the court and make judges beholden to politicians. </p>
<p>These so-called reforms “threaten to destroy <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/lapid-says-judicial-overhaul-plans-will-destroy-israels-constitutional-structure/">the entire constitutional structure of the State of Israel</a>,” said Yair Lapid, head of the opposition and former prime minister. </p>
<h2>The danger of Netanyahu’s woes</h2>
<p>All of these threats to Israeli democracy are more likely to materialize <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/netanyahu-sworn-in-as-israeli-prime-minister-amid-corruption-charges-trial/">because of Netanyahu’s current personal problems</a>. </p>
<p>Netanyahu is an experienced politician who in the past managed to quell the most extreme elements of his coalition partners, and his own Likud party, by paying them lip service while being more cautious on actual policies. </p>
<p>Many analysts do not believe this time will be the same. </p>
<p>The prime minister is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-charges-israel.html">facing corruption and fraud trials</a> in three separate cases and is focused on protecting himself through whatever legislative and executive power he can muster. Netanyahu is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-charges-israel.html">beholden to his coalition for this task</a>, which makes him vulnerable to their ultra-Orthodox agenda and demands for laws to perpetuate Jewish supremacy.</p>
<p>Any one of these changes present a serious democratic erosion. Together, they pose a clear danger to the existence of Israeli democracy. </p>
<p>Israel will continue to have elections in the future, but it’s an open question whether these will still be free and fair. With no judicial oversight, with constant disregard of human rights, with annexation of Palestinian lands and the disenfranchising of their people, and with a media that normalizes all of these processes, the answer is probably no. </p>
<p>As in Turkey, Hungary or even Russia, Israel could become <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/">a democracy in form only</a>, devoid of all the ideas and institutions that underpin a government that is actually of the people and by the people. </p>
<p><em>This story has been updated to reflect the Israeli Supreme Court’s recent actions regarding the Netanyahu government.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Boaz Atzili does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Israel’s most far-right and religious ruling coalition, which just assumed power, poses a profound threat to the country’s democratic institutions, from the courts to individual rights.Boaz Atzili, Associate Professor of International Relations, American University School of International ServiceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1883212022-10-03T19:17:32Z2022-10-03T19:17:32ZJustice Clarence Thomas and his wife have bolstered conservative causes as he is poised to lead the Supreme Court rolling back more landmark rulings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486928/original/file-20220927-5931-dsftju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=709%2C126%2C2530%2C1986&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the White House on Oct. 26, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/judge-amy-coney-barrett-is-sworn-in-as-the-115th-justice-to-news-photo/1232195685?adppopup=true">Jonathan Newton /The Washington Post via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the opening of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new session on Oct. 3, 2022, <a href="https://justicethomas.com/">Clarence Thomas</a> is arguably the most powerful justice on the nation’s highest court.</p>
<p>In 1991, after Thomas became an associate justice and only the second African American to do so, his power was improbable to almost everyone except him and his wife, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/25/who-is-ginni-thomas/7164984001/">Virginia “Ginni” Thomas</a>. </p>
<p>He received U.S. Senate confirmation despite lawyer <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/01/30-years-after-her-testimony-anita-hill-still-wants-something-from-joe-biden-514884">Anita Hill’s</a> explosive workplace sexual harassment allegations against him. </p>
<p>Today, Thomas <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-27/clarence-thomas-speaking-oral-arguments">rarely speaks during oral arguments</a>, yet he communicates substantively through his prolific written opinions that reflect a complicated mix of self-help, racial pride and the original intent of America’s Founding Fathers. </p>
<p>He isn’t chief justice. <a href="https://www.oyez.org/justices/john_g_roberts_jr">John Roberts Jr.</a> is.</p>
<p>But with Thomas’ nearly 31 years of service, he’s the longest-serving sitting justice and on track to have the lengthiest court tenure ever.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/june-jordan">June Jordan</a>, pioneering poet and cultural commentator, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/188052.Affirmative_Acts">observed</a> in 1991 when President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas that people “focused upon who the candidate was rather than what he has done and will do.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/polisci/neil-roberts">As a scholar of political theory and Black politics</a>, I contend we haven’t learned from this vital insight.</p>
<h2>Conservative activism</h2>
<p>Thomas’ service is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/14/1086535100/wife-of-justice-thomas-rebuts-claims-of-conflict-of-interest">under increasing scrutiny</a> as his wife, a conservative activist, testified on Sept. 27, 2022, before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/29/ginni-thomas-jan-6-panel-false-election-fraud-claims-00059627">she still believes false claims</a> that the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump. </p>
<p>According to documents obtained by that committee, Ginni Thomas was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/26/january-6-committee-ginni-thomas-clarence-thomas">instrumental in coordinating efforts</a> to keep former President <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/">Donald Trump</a> in office. Her efforts included sending emails to not only <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jan-6-panel-advisor-meadows-texts-proof-plot-overturn-election-2022-9">former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows</a> but also state officials in Arizona and Wisconsin. </p>
<p>Of particular concern to the Jan. 6 committee is testimony from Thomas on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/15/ginni-thomas-john-eastman-emails/">her email correspondence</a> with <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/17/1105600072/who-is-john-eastman-the-trump-lawyer-at-the-center-of-the-jan-6-investigation">John Eastman</a>, her husband’s former law clerk, who is considered to be the legal architect of Trump’s last-ditch bid to subvert the 2020 election. </p>
<p>In my view, Clarence and Ginni Thomas’ intertwined lives highlight a distressing underside to their personal union: the blurring of their professional and personal lives, which has had the appearance of fracturing the independence of the executive and judicial branches of government.</p>
<p>In this light, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-was-clarence-thomas-lone-dissenter-trump-jan-6-documents-1716895">Thomas’ sole dissent</a> in the case involving Trump’s turning over documents to the Jan. 6 committee is all the more alarming. </p>
<h2>‘What he has done and will do’</h2>
<p>Clarence Thomas has cultivated a distinct judicial philosophy and vision of the world – and a view of his place in it.</p>
<p>From what can be gleaned from his own writings and speeches, his vision has been derived from <a href="https://digilab.libs.uga.edu/exhibits/exhibits/show/civil-rights-digital-history-p/black-brown-power/black-nationalism">Black nationalism</a>, <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalism.asp">capitalism</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/conservatism">conservatism</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/originalism-meaning/618953/">originalism</a> and his own interpretations of the law. </p>
<p>Since Thomas’ confirmation, his ideas and rulings have attracted <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/wp073098.htm">many critics</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white womn dressed in a full-length green gown is walking next to a middle-aged Black man wearing a black tuxedo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487167/original/file-20220928-13-gd7196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Virginia Thomas arrive at White House dinner in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-virginia-thomas-news-photo/1176041042?adppopup=true">Paul Morigi/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But his interpetations of the law are now at the center of the high court’s jurisprudence.</p>
<p>In his concurring opinion of the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256">Thomas argued</a> that the court should reconsider reversing other related landmark rulings, including access to contraception in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1964/496">Griswold v. Connecticut</a>, LGBTQ+ sexual behavior and sodomy laws in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102">Lawrence v. Texas</a> and same-sex marriage in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">Obergefell v. Hodges</a>.</p>
<p>In short, Thomas’ sentiments reveal a broader ultraconservative agenda to roll back the social and political gains that marginalized communities have won since the 1960s. </p>
<p>The rulings in those cases, Thomas wrote, relied on the due process clause of the 14th Amendment and “were demonstrably erroneous decisions.”</p>
<p>“In future cases,” <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">Thomas explained</a>, “we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell … we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”</p>
<p>Other <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/07/as-unanimity-declines-conservative-majoritys-power-runs-deeper-than-the-blockbuster-cases/">recent Supreme Court rulings</a>, on <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf">Second Amendment rights</a>, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-499_gfbh.pdf">Miranda rights</a>, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-12_m6hn.pdf">campaign finance regulations</a> and <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-429_8o6a.pdf">tribal sovereignty</a>, are also evidence of Thomas’ impact on the nation’s highest court. </p>
<h2>The long game</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/my-grandfathers-son-clarence-thomas?variant=32154157744162">his memoir</a> and public <a href="https://justicethomas.com/justice-thomas/videos/">speeches</a>, Thomas identifies as a self-made man.</p>
<p>Though he has benefited from affirmative action programs – and the color of his skin played a role in his Supreme Court nomination – Thomas has staunchly opposed such efforts to remedy past racial discrimination. Like other notable Black conservatives, Thomas argues that group-based preferences reward those who seek government largesse rather than individual initiative. </p>
<p>With the exception of guidance of Catholic Church institutions and his grandfather Myers Anderson, Thomas claims he earned his accomplishments by effort, hard work and his own initiative.</p>
<p>In a 1998 speech, Thomas <a href="https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/speech-to-the-national-bar-association/">foreshadowed his judicial independence</a> and made clear that his attendance before the National Bar Association, the nation’s largest Black legal association, was not to defend his conservative views – or further anger his critics.</p>
<p>“But rather,” he explained, “to assert my right to think for myself, to refuse to have my ideas assigned to me as though I was an intellectual slave because I’m black.”</p>
<p>“I come to state that I’m a man, free to think for myself and do as I please,” Thomas went on. “I’ve come to assert that I am a judge and I will not be consigned the unquestioned opinions of others. But even more than that, I have come to say that, isn’t it time to move on?” </p>
<p>But like many of Thomas’ complexities, his own self-made narrative distorts the ideas of the first prominent Black Republican who <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/91574/frederick-douglass-clarence-thomas">remains one of his intellectual heroes</a> – <a href="https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813175621/a-political-companion-to-frederick-douglass/">Frederick Douglass</a>, the statesman, abolitionist and fugitive ex-slave whose portrait has hung on the wall of Thomas’ office.</p>
<p>But in “<a href="https://hackettpublishing.com/history/american-social-history/the-essential-douglass">Self-Made Men</a>,” a speech he first delivered in 1859. Douglass disagreed with the idea that accomplishments result from solely individual upliftment. </p>
<p>“Properly speaking,” Douglass wrote, “there are in the world no such men as self-made men. That term implies an individual independence of the past and present which can never exist.” </p>
<h2>Law against the people</h2>
<p>Thomas’ view of the law is rooted in <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/white-papers/on-originalism-in-constitutional-interpretation#:%7E:text=Originalism%20is%20a%20theory%20of,time%20that%20it%20became%20law.">the originalism doctrine</a> of an immutable rather than living U.S. Constitution. </p>
<p>Since the 1776 Declaration of Independence, modern America for Thomas has been predominantly a republic, where laws are made for the people through their elected representatives. Unlike a pure democracy, where the people vote directly and the majority rules, the rights of the minority are protected in a republic. </p>
<p>Dating back to ancient Rome, the history of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/republicanism/">republicanism</a> is a story of denouncing domination, rejecting slavery and championing freedom.</p>
<p>Yet in my view, American republicanism has an underside: its <a href="https://constitutionus.com/constitution/what-is-the-3-5-compromise/">long-standing basis in inequality</a> that never intended its core ideals to apply beyond a small few.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An elderly Black and an elderly white man stand next to each other as onlookers applaud." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470630/original/file-20220623-52339-bsu0ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clarence Thomas is seen here with GOP leader Mitch McConnell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/associate-supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-looks-on-as-news-photo/1236038692?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thomas claims <a href="https://lawliberty.org/justice-thomas-mr-republican/">consistency with America’s original founding</a>.</p>
<p>In my view, Thomas’ perilous conservative activism works against a fundamental principle of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">U.S. Constitution</a> – “to form a more perfect union.” </p>
<p>Thomas’ rulings reveal a broader ultraconservative agenda to roll back the social and political gains that marginalized communities have won since the 1960s.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Roberts does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black conservative Clarence Thomas’ improbable rise as a powerful US Supreme Court justice today was unimaginable during his controversial confirmation hearings in 1991.Neil Roberts, Professor of Political Science, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880262022-08-11T15:25:13Z2022-08-11T15:25:13ZBourguiba did a lot for Tunisian women. But was he their emancipator?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478707/original/file-20220811-14-y4negy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Demonstrators gather in support of women's rights and equal justice in Tunis in June 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Yassine Mahjoub/NurPhoto via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tunisia’s <a href="https://publicholidays.africa/tunisia/womens-day/">National Women’s Day</a> is often associated with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Habib-Bourguiba">Habib Bourguiba</a>, the country’s first president, who pursued the policy of state feminism. Bourguiba ruled the country for 30 years after its independence from France in 1957. In 1987 he was ousted in a coup d’etat by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zine-al-Abidine-Ben-Ali">Zine El Abedine Ben Ali</a>. Bourguiba’s state feminist policies earned him the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-44617-8_10#:%7E:text=Habib%20Bourguiba%20made%20the%20best,%E2%80%9Cliberator%20of%20Tunisian%20woman%E2%80%9D.">moniker</a> of the emancipator and liberator of Tunisian women. </p>
<p>But was he really their emancipator? </p>
<p>Like most Tunisian women, I grew up thinking this idea was true because this was the message the Tunisian educational system and media had communicated. When I started researching the history of the Tunisian feminist movement, however, I discovered that the reality was much more complex.</p>
<h2>Bourguiba’s state feminism</h2>
<p>State feminism refers to the government’s adoption of policies that foster women’s rights and improve women’s lives. Bourguiba was the <a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2020/07/27/state-feminism-and-the-islamist-secularist-binary-womens-rights-in-tunisia/">pioneer of state feminism</a> in Tunisia. He used his powers to pass reforms that vastly improved women’s legal status. </p>
<p>These reforms were imposed from the top down and promoted women’s rights in a number of areas. </p>
<p>A few months after the country’s independence from France, Bourguiba instated the Personal Status Code. This granted women unprecedented liberties and social autonomy. It eliminated men’s practice of immediate divorce and provided equal divorce rights for women and men. Women’s consent became required for marriage. The <a href="https://www.judicaelleirakoze.org/patreon-post-state-feminism-in-tunisia/">right of a guardian</a> to marry off a woman without her permission was abolished. Polygamy was also outlawed. </p>
<p>As a result of these changes, the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-44617-8_10#:%7E:text=Habib%20Bourguiba%20made%20the%20best,%E2%80%9Cliberator%20of%20Tunisian%20woman%E2%80%9D.">labels</a> “the father of feminism” and “Tunisian women’s liberator” were given to Bourguiba. The labels reflected the paternalistic and patriarchal aspect of the Bourguibist feminist policies. They also mirrored the state’s monopolisation of the feminist cause. </p>
<p>In reality, Bourguiba deliberately marginalised Tunisia’s autonomous feminism. Different women’s unions appeared in the pre-independence period. Yet, after independence, Bourguiba opposed, <a href="https://www.cairn-int.info/journal-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2014-2-page-4.htm">marginalised and dissolved</a> them. He outlawed their activities in the name of “national unity” and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2017.1391770">replaced</a> them with the National Union of Tunisian Women in 1958. </p>
<p>The result, according to Tunisian researcher Chouaib Elhajjaji, <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/chouaib-el-hajjaji/feminism-in-tunisia-brutal-hijacking-elitism-and-exclusion">was that</a> he killed the grassroots movement and turned it into a government sponsored one.</p>
<p>Bourguiba co-opted women’s rights by linking the National Union of Tunisian Women to his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Constitutional-Rally">Socialist Destourian Party</a>. He transformed the Women’s Union into a tool for his state feminism. </p>
<p>The result was an ambiguous policy. It <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/clio/286?amp%3Bid=286&lang=en">presented</a> itself as freeing and modernising, while maintaining a level of conservatism. This is what <a href="https://journals.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/feministdissent/article/view/292">explains</a> Bourguiba’s reinforcement of women’s traditional roles as wives, mothers and guardians of Islamic tradition in his speeches, despite his revolutionary ideas.</p>
<p>Co-opting women’s rights served his nationalist agenda, but not the feminist cause. The women’s union could not criticise the state’s gender politics. </p>
<p>My reading at Tunisia’s National Archives allowed me to notice the constant praise of Bourguiba in the publications of the Tunisian Women’s Union, particularly its journal Femme (Woman). The journal refers to Bourguiba repeatedly as the emancipator of Tunisian women. Indeed, the fact that he appointed the union’s first president, <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/20200308-radhia-haddad-pr%C3%A9sidente-femmes">Radhia Haddad</a>, reflects his hegemony over this female organisation.</p>
<p>Haddad herself would later <a href="https://journals.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/feministdissent/article/view/292">criticise</a> the lack of freedom of expression and association. Other feminist activists, like Amal Ben Aba and <a href="https://nawaat.org/2013/04/24/zeineb-turki-du-parti-al-jomhouri-la-priorite-est-de-realiser-une-paix-sociale">Zeineb Cherni</a>, also joined in denouncing <a href="https://journals.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/feministdissent/article/view/292">the state’s hold on feminism</a>. The state cracked down on them.</p>
<p>This created a need for an independent form of activism capable of acting outside the state agenda. As a result, an <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2014-2-page-4.htm">autonomous feminist movement</a> emerged in Tunisia in the 1980s. </p>
<h2>Independent feminism</h2>
<p>The independent groups signalled their divergence from the government’s official “feminist” structures. They allied themselves with opposition parties because they saw a link between the fight against sexism and the fight against authoritarianism. </p>
<p>Tunisian feminists chose to qualify their activism as “autonomous” to <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelles-questions-feministes-2014-2-page-4.htm">differentiate</a> it from the state’s approach.</p>
<p>For instance, in 1987, the <a href="http://alraidajournal.com/index.php/ALRJ/article/view/1323">Tahar Haddad cultural club</a> was founded as part of the push for independent voices. Its growth was challenged by Bourguiba’s decision that only his women’s union could operate. This hindered the actual <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2017.1391770">political representation </a> of the autonomous women’s movement. </p>
<p>The Tunisian independent feminist movement wanted to end the patronage of Bourguiba over women’s rights. Activist Sana Ben Achour illustrates this in her <a href="https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/as/2018-v42-n1-as03619/1045124ar/">comment</a> on the determination of the independent feminists who founded the Tahar Haddad Club to achieve their goals in spite of Bourguiba:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our relationship {with the National Union of Tunisian Women} was conflictual because the Tunisian feminist movement was born out of the will to break with tutelage, more particularly with the father figure, the figure of Bourguiba … We no longer wanted to hear the discourse, which made Bourguiba know what was best for us, women.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ben Achour throws light on the important problem of Bourguiba’s appropriation of achievements made in the women’s rights arena. This centralises the father cult. It also erases the role that Tunisian women’s rights activists played in advancing women’s rights. The most notorious example of this erasure is the Personal Status Code, which was celebrated as Bourguiba’s achievement. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/chouaib-el-hajjaji/feminism-in-tunisia-brutal-hijacking-elitism-and-exclusion">Elhajjaji</a> explains, this has resulted in</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ignoring the female activists who fought for these laws. School history books rarely mention names such as <a href="https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-683">Bchira Ben Mrad</a>, Radhia Haddad and <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/feminism-in-tunisia-brutal-hijacking-elitism-and-exclusion/">Manoubia Ouertani</a>, but instead, it’s Bourguiba who is celebrated as the women’s ‘saviour’ and ‘liberator.’ </p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/state-feminism-in-tunisia-reading-between-lines/">Amira Mhadhbi</a>, who exposes the oppressive aspect of Bourguiba’s state feminism, illustrates this further:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>President Bourguiba was declared the ‘liberator of Tunisian women.’ … This initiated a culture of political patriarchy. By effectively outlawing other forms of political leadership, Bourguiba stalled the women’s movement in its broader fight for autonomy from male authority.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The evidence presented so far reflects the limitations of Bourguiba’s state feminism. It is undeniable that the state feminist policies he pursued have benefited Tunisian women and girls in multiple areas. But, if independent feminists were deliberately marginalised by this male figure, then can we continue to call him the emancipator of Tunisian women?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jyhene Kebsi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Former president Bourguiba’s standing as father of Tunisian feminism has come under scrutiny.Jyhene Kebsi, Lecturer in Gender Studies, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1823102022-06-14T15:07:40Z2022-06-14T15:07:40ZOlder lesbians are the keepers of a rich history of the lives of women who love other women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467576/original/file-20220607-16-ryt3uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C4558%2C3052&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">2SLGBTQQIA+ history cannot be complete without the stories of lesbian women.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many older lesbians sought out invisibility, they called each other “friends” or “career girls” or “not the marrying kind.” These terms worked as camouflage and helped many women feel safe <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173834">during a time where their sexuality wasn’t accepted</a>.</p>
<p>And while invisibility was at times a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2020.1800548">necessary fiction</a>,” there were many other factors that contributed, including lesbophobia. Lesbophobia is <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/human_rights-droits_homme/rights_lgbti-droits_lgbti.aspx?lang=eng">a type of discrimination affecting women who are attracted to women</a> because of their sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Over the past several decades, identity terms — like lesbian — have gone through cycles. Words coined by 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities are often misused until they become insults, <a href="https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/8/02/21-words-queer-community-has-reclaimed-and-some-we-havent">but these insults can be reclaimed</a>. </p>
<p>“Lesbian” was reclaimed by activists in the 1960s, just before the community adopted “LGBT,” which grew to become the more inclusive “2SLGBTQQIA+.” And while still a contested term, the next generation began to reclaim the term “queer.” </p>
<p>We’re involved in community projects called the <a href="https://www.dal.ca/sites/lgbt-archives/about.html">Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and Lesbian Oral History Project</a> that focus on gathering stories from the generation that began using lesbian, and those who still can’t. </p>
<p>2SLGBTQQIA+ history cannot be complete without these women’s stories, but breaching their fiercely protected invisibility raises ethical questions: Can we describe them in their own language?</p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>The generations of lesbians who were <a href="https://www.dal.ca/faculty/health/news-events/news/2020/06/25/dal_health_researcher_championing_lgbtq__health_equity.html">instrumental in the early fight for equal rights and protections for 2SLGBTQQIA+ Canadians</a> are now in their senior years. Despite their efforts to advocate for change, the stories of older lesbians often go unnoticed or underappreciated. </p>
<p>Older lesbians are not an invisible artifact of the times, but rather the keepers of a rich history of the lives of women who love other women. We have found that there is a struggle for our stories to be heard. As many of us age, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fgeriatrics6020060">we risk losing this rich history</a>. But lesbian oral history archival projects — like ours — are helping counteract this. </p>
<p>Oral histories can create intergenerational teaching and learning opportunities for people to <a href="https://blogs.dal.ca/libraries/2021/10/finding-our-history-a-conversation-about-lgbt-collections-and-exhibitions-webinar">understand the struggles and hard-fought wins</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of older women sit on a bench donned in Pride attire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466449/original/file-20220531-48889-gffx97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women attend a pride event in Vancouver, in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>By lesbians for lesbians</h2>
<p>The long <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-rights-in-canada">history of 2SLGBTQQIA+ discrimination and hatred</a> has led to an under-appreciation of the various contributions made by lesbians in advancing human rights legislation. </p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.dal.ca/sites/lgbt-archives.html">the recently founded Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive</a>, the Lesbian Oral History Project is collecting the stories of older lesbians from across Nova Scotia to preserve and share our history. </p>
<p>Through community consultations, the Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive became aware of the lack of archival records in the province pertaining specifically to older lesbian histories, including their contributions to Nova Scotia history in general and 2SLGBTQQIA+ history more specifically. </p>
<p>To mitigate this lack of representation, the archive sought funding from the provincial government to develop the Lesbian Oral History Project, which will allow older lesbians (specifically those born between 1946-64) across Nova Scotia to share their stories. </p>
<p>The oral histories were collected over a two-year period, recently transcribed and will be included in the larger Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive collection at Dalhousie University. </p>
<p>It was necessary for the Lesbian Oral History initiative to be run by lesbians because of the importance in being mindful of who controls the process of visibility and with what motives. </p>
<p>For example, in the 1950s and early 1960s, when many of today’s lesbian seniors were in their youth, <a href="https://msvulpf.omeka.net/">lesbian pulp fiction with sensationalized</a> covers <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lesbian-pulp-fiction-ann-bannon">sold millions of copies</a> providing one of the few sources of lesbian representation in <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2701827">an era known for its repression of sexual minorities</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Covers of three lesbian pulp fiction books" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466448/original/file-20220531-49143-6364m8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Covers of lesbian pulp fiction books.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lesbian+pulp+fiction&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">(Wikimedia Commons)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://crimereads.com/no-adam-for-eve-the-quiet-history-of-lesbian-pulp-fiction">majority of these books were written by and aimed at cisgender straight men</a>. The books often contained tragic endings and moralistic messages against gay men’s and lesbians’ so-called lifestyles — their legacy remains today with <a href="https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1579&context=mcnair">“Bury your Gays” and “Dead Lesbian Syndrome” tropes</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the publishers’ constraints and who they were written by, many of these books formed what became known as “<a href="https://msvulpf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/lpf/lesbian-survival-literature">lesbian survival literature</a>.” The stories depicted queer women living and loving in difficult times, where desire and self-determination were more important than happy endings. It helped many lesbians of that era feel seen despite not being the target audience. </p>
<p>Our projects — the Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and the Lesbian Oral History Project — hope to do what lesbian pulp fiction did for many lesbians in the ‘50s and '60s — help them feel seen. But we’re doing it differently as the Lesbian Oral History project is created by and for lesbians. </p>
<p>We need to see additional systemic changes in, for example education, to ensure these important contributions of older lesbians are not lost.</p>
<p><em>This piece was co-authored by Anne Bishop an activist, author, educator, food security advocate, labour organizer and community development worker. Since the 1980s she has advocated for LGBTQ rights, union organization, equity and anti-racist policies in the province of Nova Scotia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline (Jacquie) Gahagan receives funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors, Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, Research Nova Scotia, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Social Sciences, and Humanities Research Council.
Denyse Rodrigues
Anne Bishop</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denyse Rodrigues does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive and Lesbian Oral History Project focus on gathering stories from the generation that began using the term lesbian, and those who still can’t.Jacquie Gahagan, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityDenyse Rodrigues, Library Research & E-Learning Services Librarian, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762562022-03-03T19:10:40Z2022-03-03T19:10:40ZFriday essay: ‘fair game’, racial shame and the women who demanded more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449681/original/file-20220303-19-34usfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club last month.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sexual politics is difficult terrain for young people to navigate. Desire, threat and insecurity are a powerful combination in the most benign circumstances, even before teenagers were drenched in social media harassment and ubiquitous porn. </p>
<p>Outside the privileged cloister where we tested the limits, my generation of assertive young women were surprised to realise we represented a visceral threat to
those men who chose to remain unmoved by the new politics that took the personal seriously.</p>
<p>The chilling reality of this confronted me not long after I arrived in Cairns in 1975, on the first leg of my journey to interview the bush poets scribbling away in Far North Queensland. </p>
<p>As I stood waiting for my brand new suitcase to appear on the baggage trolley towed from the plane, I fell into easy banter with a cowboy from central casting. He didn’t offer to carry my luggage but followed me to the hire car desk. His insistent attention put me on alert. I brushed him off, then made my way to the car park and onto the highway to town. Phew.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449094/original/file-20220301-23-4yfwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There were six unsolved murders on the Bruce Highway ‘horror stretch’ in six years. Image: Bruce Highway, Brisbane – Gympie, Queensland State Archives.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The threat had felt real. I had absorbed the reports of the Bruce Highway horror stretch a little further south. Six unsolved murders in six years, and another two just months earlier. I locked all the doors of the little Mazda, wound the windows up tight, and kept an eye on the rear-vision mirror until I pulled into the motel, checked into my room and drew the curtains. </p>
<p>Then the cowboy’s harassment really started. First a phone call, then a knock on the door, angry pacing outside the room, another call and banging on the window. I rang reception to complain and was told to get over it. No one was sent up the stairs to tell him to get lost or that they would call the police.</p>
<p>The message was clear: women were fair game. It seemed like hours before he gave up. I was exhausted. In the morning, I gobbled the cardboard cereal and white toast pushed through the breakfast hatch, drank the pot of Robur tea, paid the bill and dashed to the car park. Then I locked myself in the car. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449123/original/file-20220301-3997-jgal2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I was a bundle of nervous energy. It scarcely dissipated on the hour-long journey through the stifling heat of the pre–wet season, down the palm-fringed tropical coast to Innisfail. I was too afraid to stop, though I desperately wanted to have a swim, even in crocodile- and stinger-infested waters. I worried that if I did, the angry cowboy – or some of his mates – might reappear. I had read enough newspaper reports to know that young women disappeared on remote country roads.</p>
<p>There was nothing exceptional about my experience. Everyone I knew had a similar story, or worse. The legacy of <a href="https://theconversation.com/of-course-australia-was-invaded-massacres-happened-here-less-than-90-years-ago-55377">a violent frontier</a> could not be wished away and did not just evaporate. It echoed through the generations, finding new targets. Modern Queensland was still pumped up with the testosterone-fuelled aggression that had marked its founding.</p>
<p>After I returned from my road trip, a friend told me she had seen brutal violence against women in some towns in Far North Queensland – assaults that were organised and condoned, the perpetrators beyond the reach of the law. </p>
<p>It was, we would now say, structural. Not just a few bad eggs, but a system that treated young women as chattels. In her town, not far from my uncomfortable experience, gangs of men and boys routinely identified a female target at a public event and enticed her outside. They called the gang rape a “train” and convinced themselves, and the police, that the woman was “asking for it”. The traumatised victims were <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1259316">rarely believed</a>, the legal system seemingly designed to humiliate, shame and silence them.</p>
<p>When we helped journalists from the National Times with the research they needed to travel to the town and report what was going on, an ancient mechanism of control in new garb was fully revealed. </p>
<p>Within no time at all, similar stories bubbled up out of other country towns. After the horror of these organised attacks was reported, the campaign to ensure that the victims of <a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment-whats-the-difference-93411">sexual assault</a> were treated with respect in Queensland gained new momentum. One of the only two women in the state parliament made it an issue.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449450/original/file-20220302-23-1oebjnt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Julianne Schultz in the 1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rosemary Kyburz was a Liberal MP who would do all she could to ensure these assaults did not go unpunished. Within a couple of years, the law changed a little. </p>
<p>Inquiries, reports, submissions and debates followed, and changes continued to be made for decades as the legacy of <a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-misogyny-and-why-mens-aggression-to-women-is-so-often-expressed-through-sex-157680">embedded misogyny</a> revealed itself over and over. Sexual abuse could no longer be dismissed with the mocking laugh that had once accompanied it. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, nearly 50 years on, the law still works against female victims. The suppressed anger that many women carry burst to the surface of public life when another generation of young women, led by Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and <a href="https://theconversation.com/shes-a-slut-sexual-bullying-among-girls-contributes-to-cultural-misogyny-we-need-to-take-it-seriously-157421">Chanel Contos</a>, declared Enough is enough. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-change-making-history-making-noise-brittany-higgins-and-grace-tame-at-the-national-press-club-176252">Making change, making history, making noise: Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A few weeks after International Women’s Day 2021, in cities and towns around Australia, women and men, many who hadn’t marched for decades, <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-sex-power-and-anger-a-history-of-feminist-protests-in-australia-157402">took to the streets</a> in response to the revelations of sexual abuse in Parliament House. The echo of past protests reverberated around the nation. It had not taken long for the 800,000 women who had been added to the electoral roll in 1903 to become a wellspring of conservative votes for decades, but the polls suggested they would be no longer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449102/original/file-20220301-15-1sr1eax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">International Women’s Day protests 2021, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthrkac/">Matthrkac/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A right, not a gift</h2>
<p>The animating idea of the women’s movement – that equality was a right, not a gift or a political deal – transformed interpersonal relations, and crept into workplaces and schools. Language changed, expectations were recalibrated, and before long, behaviour followed. But it did not happen overnight and did not happen without a struggle. The ban on married women working in the public service <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/the-long-slow-demise-of-the-marriage-bar/">had been lifted</a>
only two years before I started high school.</p>
<p>At that time, women were still the exception in the professions, paid one-third less than men and denied access to superannuation. In 1973, a few million dollars was made available by the federal government for the first time to support childcare and some support for women’s refuges followed. It was tiny by today’s standards but it transformed lives.</p>
<p>Four years later, the editor of the Courier-Mail drew my first serious job interview to a halt: “What it is with you girls, why do you all want to be journalists, what’s wrong with teaching and nursing?” I didn’t bother to turn up for the second interview after the editor of the Gold Coast Bulletin, which still featured women in bikinis on the front page, said, “If you’re a pretty girl, come on down; if not, don’t bother.” </p>
<p>Soon the patter became more sophisticated. As Max Walsh, the editor at the Australian Financial Review, had told me at my job interview – in a pub – women would work twice as hard for half the money as men, and he thought they’d be more able to extract secrets from businessmen than male journalists. </p>
<p>A few years later, in the early 1980s, when I was armed with a clipping-book full of front-page stories and some experience in television, the head of current affairs at ABC TV baited me for an hour before dismissing me, asking, “What makes you think you are pretty enough to be on television?” Belittling and shaming were
still ready tools of choice to put women in their place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C4188%2C2802&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman sits on bench, wrapped in coat and scarf, and stares at statue" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C4188%2C2802&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449134/original/file-20220301-25-1fjq1su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author in Geneva, 1980.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The year before my experience at the ABC’s Gore Hill headquarters, the High Court had ruled that Ansett Airlines could not discriminate against a woman who was otherwise qualified to be a pilot. I had reported on <a href="https://timeline.awava.org.au/archives/397">Deborah Wardley’s case</a> for years as her prospective employer invented one excuse after another to block her – women weren’t strong enough; unions would object; menstrual cycles, pregnancy and childbirth would jeopardise safety and increase costs. The court ruled on technicalities, not on principle. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449105/original/file-20220301-15-11exowt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1980 advertisement for Ansett airlines. In March 1980, Reginald Ansett lost his High Court appeal against pilot Deborah Wardley’s discrimination case, using the then-new Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1977.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a group of older mentors urged me to make a complaint about my treatment at the ABC, the cost seemed higher than any possible reward. I kept my notes and moved on; revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold.</p>
<p>It took until 1983 for Australia to sign <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx">the 1979 United Nations convention</a> designed to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. Legislation followed in 1984, but its principal proponent, the Labor senator Susan Ryan, was subjected to bitter personal and public attacks. </p>
<p>At the big rallies in Canberra, anxious and angry Women Who Want to be Women pushed to the front to protest the changes. Some 80,000 people signed petitions opposing the relatively modest sex discrimination bill. Although key Liberal leaders supported it, the right wing of the party was bitterly opposed. It <a href="https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/sex-discrimination-uncertain-times">marked the beginning of a split</a> that would dog the party for decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449138/original/file-20220301-25-3pas2i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Senator Susan Ryan, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Fernon/National Museum of Australia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-sex-power-and-anger-a-history-of-feminist-protests-in-australia-157402">Friday essay: Sex, power and anger — a history of feminist protests in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Susan Ryan was a feisty campaigner, so the vicious onslaughts only increased her resolve. Women’s rights were on the way to becoming human rights, talent was no longer sifted by sex, but the extent of the opposition stunned her. </p>
<p>The Australian legislation passed with the support of some Liberal members of parliament who defied their party and crossed the floor to vote with the government. </p>
<p>Women did not have a secure footing in the dominant political party, as deputy Liberal leader and foreign minister Julie Bishop and Liberal MP Julia Banks found in the internal party confrontation that ousted Malcolm Turnbull and replaced him with Scott Morrison. As <a href="https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/power-play-by-julia-banks/9781743797204">Julia Banks declared</a> in the House of Representatives, as she prepared to leave in 2018, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Often when good women call out or are subjected to bad behaviours, the reprisals, backlash and commentary portrays them as the bad ones: the liar, the troublemaker, the emotionally unstable or weak, or someone who should be silenced.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“Tell us the story again about the newspaper job interview in the pub,” my teenaged daughter and her friends would say, at the turn of the century, each time we drove down Broadway past the old Fairfax building towards Sydney University. “Can you believe it?” the girls would chuckle. </p>
<p>Then they too entered the workforce and realised that the more subtle but deadening hand of sexual discrimination was still doing its evil work, now hidden behind laws and lofty rhetoric. Change rarely proceeds in a linear manner, but the trend was clear.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-madness-of-julia-banks-why-narratives-about-hysterical-women-are-so-toxic-163963">The 'madness' of Julia Banks — why narratives about 'hysterical' women are so toxic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Assertive women, brutal political attacks</h2>
<p>When Wayne Goss appointed Canadian-born Leneen Forde as Queensland’s governor in 1992, she was only the second woman governor in Australian history. She had fallen in love with the son of former Australian prime minister Frank Forde and, like countless young brides, moved to Australia full of hope and expectation. She was shocked by what she discovered. Brisbane in the mid-1950s was a poor country town. The appliances she had taken for granted were considered luxury mod cons. A woman’s place was in the home. But when her husband died 11 years later, this was no longer an option for her. </p>
<p>With five young children to support, she began studying law and five years after her husband’s death started work as a solicitor, eventually becoming the queen’s representative in a state named for another. </p>
<p>Queensland, despite the gender of its name, was a place where men prevailed and women were meant to know their place. Matt Foley challenged this when, as the state’s attorney-general, he decided that merit, not gender, would determine judicial appointments. </p>
<p>My former English teacher, Roslyn Atkinson, by then a distinguished barrister who had been the inaugural president of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and deputy chair of the state’s Law Reform Commission, despite outraged protests from the old guard, became one of Foley’s first Supreme Court appointments in 1998.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449155/original/file-20220301-15-1dtrnys.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roslyn Atkinson, inaugural president of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and deputy chair of the state’s Law Reform Commission.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within a few years, despite bitter heckling from those who were still convinced that “merit” meant “men”, seven of the state’s 24 Supreme Court judges were women, and a woman was president of the Queensland Court of Appeal. Years later it was still driving the press mad. The Courier-Mail would roll out articles anonymously reporting lawyers who knew women were just not up to it. These eminently well-qualified women were derided as “Matt’s Girls”.</p>
<p>In September 2015, Justice Catherine Holmes became the state’s first female chief justice. This was a change that would not easily slide back. The reaction to these newly assertive women was no less brutal in politics. </p>
<p>When Labor’s Anna Bligh became the first popularly elected female premier in Australia in 2009, the misogyny that later blighted Julia Gillard’s prime ministership had an off-Broadway tryout in Brisbane. Bligh’s resolute leadership during the 2011 floods, like Gillard’s ability to navigate a hung parliament, counted for little. Her determination to privatise ports, roads, trains and coal terminals was not welcomed by traditional Labor voters. Union-sponsored billboards on major thoroughfares mocked her, the press despised her, and a vicious whispering campaign prevailed. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449118/original/file-20220301-19-13tktsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anna Bligh became the first popularly elected female premier in Australia in 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/djackmanson/">David Jackmanson/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2012 election was a disaster for Labor: the party went from holding 51 seats to seven. Electoral tides in Queensland are often more dramatic than normal swings on the carefully calibrated Australian electoral pendulum. It was a relatively short-lived win for the blokes who had felt they were born to run the state. It lasted just one term. </p>
<h2>A female perspective</h2>
<p>In 2020, the victorious Annastacia Palaszczuk became the first woman to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-wins-queensland-election-as-greens-could-win-up-to-four-seats-148715">re-elected premier for a third time</a>. Under her administration, women occupied an unprecedented number of positions of power in what was once the most macho state. It was a long way from the 1970s. </p>
<p>In 2021, most of the ministers in her cabinet were women, as were the governor, chief justice, police commissioner, chief medical officer, head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and six of the state’s seven university vice-chancellors.</p>
<p>Second-wave feminists had sometimes wondered, in the abstract, what would happen as occupations were dominated by women. Would that mean the profession had lost status? Was equality realised when mediocre women exercised as much achieved power as mediocre men had always done? </p>
<p>But as Palaszczuk’s legislation to introduce a Queensland bill of rights, legalise abortion, outlaw coercive control, enable voluntary euthanasia and better define consent laws showed in a few short years, a female perspective could change the agenda. </p>
<p>And it could drive some men mad. This was a profound cultural and political change that had nothing to do with detachment from the “mother country”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-our-utopia-careful-what-you-wish-for-165314">Friday essay: Our utopia ... careful what you wish for</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fault lines</h2>
<p>Race and gender discrimination are inextricably linked and have long been defining Australian fault lines. Female convicts – “whores”, in the view of some commanders and male prisoners – were outnumbered at least three to one and were shared among the men in what <a href="http://juliemccrossin.com/afr1.pdf">Anne Summers has described</a> as “imposed sexual slavery”. But <a href="https://bookshop.nla.gov.au/book/defiant-voices-how-australias-female-convicts-challenged-authority-1788-1853.do">many were</a> fiercely independent battlers who wanted a better life for themselves and their children and were prepared to challenge authority.</p>
<p>Similarly, the Cammeraygal woman <a href="https://www.barangaroo.com/about/the-place/history/barangaroo-the-woman">Barangaroo</a>, who became Bennelong’s wife after her first husband died from smallpox, set the bar high. She was an independent woman, a fierce hunter and provider who saw little reason to compromise with the new arrivals. She once famously attended an official dinner at Government House in traditional garb, her naked body painted in white clay, a bone through her nose. </p>
<p>She died in 1790, so was spared the distress of witnessing the brutal and demeaning treatment of her sisters and generations of others as the fight over the bodies of Aboriginal women became a recurring metaphor of settlement. Some formed loving relationships with settlers, others became leaders, but many were treated as chattels, emotionally destroyed as their children were taken away, their men emasculated.</p>
<p>Australia was and is a deeply male society. For those with enough determination and a strong sense of self-worth, frontier life encouraged a certain female fearlessness that is still evident. </p>
<p>It is clear in the stars that shine abroad: writers and thinkers like Germaine Greer, Geraldine Brooks, Anne Summers and Kate Manne; scientists like the Nobel-winning Elizabeth Blackburn; actors like Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Rachel Griffiths and Margot Robbie, who luminously fill the world’s screens; educators including Jill Ker Conway and Patricia Davidson; and anthropologists Genevieve Bell and Marcia Langton.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman smiling, holding newspapers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449147/original/file-20220301-23-103l367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Germaine Greer holding newspapers, 1988.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brendan Hennessy/NLA nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149859225</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ever since pastoralists recruited single men, not wanting to be encumbered by the additional expense of providing for families, the political economy of Australia has been built on the primacy of male labour, male power and male control. The native-born and immigrant populations grew in the 19th century, but it took the
deaths of more than 60,000 men in the first world war for women to become the majority, although the generational loss reverberated for decades. </p>
<p>Women remained, in Anne Summers’ famous phrase, either “damned whores or God’s police”. Sexualised taunting was and still is the bedrock of abuse likely to rain down on Australian women who speak their mind, provide professional advice, demand more and expect R.E.S.P.E.C.T., as Aretha Franklin sang. Still, nothing fires up the angry Twitterati quite like women making otherwise unremarkable comments about their rights and expectations.</p>
<h2>‘One of the most racist towns in the country’</h2>
<p>The intersection of these discriminations was on proud, unapologetic display when, in 1977, I flew three hours west of Brisbane to Cunnamulla. </p>
<p>Peter Manning, then the editor of Nation Review, had commissioned me to report on a community that had been characterised as one of the most racist towns in the country for the independent newspaper. As I had learned from my weeks on the road talking to bush poets, travelling alone on this assignment would have been foolhardy, so I accompanied two of my friends. Wayne Goss and Matt Foley were working for the Aboriginal Legal Service at the time, and they had a slate full of meetings and court hearings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Shops on a street, in a isolated town" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449150/original/file-20220301-4438-1k4idnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jane Street, Cunnamulla.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland State Archives</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the time, Cunnamulla was home to 1500 people (about, according to the signpost), seven pubs and seven draperies, and unemployment was officially running at 25%. Eight of every ten Aboriginal people were without work. It was a town where grog ruled, dozens of children were malnourished, and the grief from scores of infant deaths each year was overwhelming. </p>
<p>As the plane touched down, the local man sitting next to me asked where I was staying. The Club, I said. He spoke in the leering, patronising way I had come to expect in my travels through the state, setting the tone for the following week. As we left the plane he reassured me that I would be safe: “They don’t let the darkies into the Club Hotel.”</p>
<p>Cunnamulla is one of a handful of outback Australian towns that has a grim, larger-than-life reputation. Wilcannia, in the far west of New South Wales, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-in-wilcannia-a-national-disgrace-we-all-saw-coming-167348">briefly won national attention during the pandemic</a>, is another. Both towns had had their reputations unfairly tarnished, as the requests of their leaders were persistently ignored and dismissed. It has long been easy to ignore those who live beyond the Great Dividing Range.</p>
<p>Not long after William Landsborough described the potential of the land he observed around what became Cunnamulla – as he crossed the continent from north to south in search of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills – the south-west of Queensland was rapidly divided into vast stations. </p>
<p>Squatters soon claimed the mulga-clad countryside and murderous incursions became the norm. <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-unearthing-queenslands-native-police-camps-gives-us-a-window-onto-colonial-violence-100814">Native Police</a> were stationed in the Cunnamulla township. Reports of the killings in the 1860s were so shocking that they provoked the Anglican bishop of Sydney to establish a mission. He had been outraged by a squatter’s jape that if he had “known how useful they might be he wouldn’t have killed so many blackfellows”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-unearthing-queenslands-native-police-camps-gives-us-a-window-onto-colonial-violence-100814">How unearthing Queensland's 'native police' camps gives us a window onto colonial violence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="row of uniformed men in horses" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449151/original/file-20220301-23-14kra2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police riot squad and mounted Native Police, circa 1890s, Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland State Archives</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The unprepossessing settlement on the banks of the Warrego River about 800 kilometres due west of Brisbane is an unlikely entry in the compendium of noteworthy places. Its murderous history was conveniently forgotten and replaced with a pastoral fantasy. Maybe the mouth-pleasing ring of the name helped. Henry Lawson thought it suggested pumpkin pies. He immortalised the Cobb & Co. coach
stop in his story <a href="https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C239056">The Hypnotised Township</a>, but described the town as a place of “troubled slumbers”. </p>
<p>Years later the Aboriginal poet <a href="https://www.uqp.com.au/authors/herb-wharton">Herb Wharton</a>, who was born near Cunnamulla, won international acclaim when he broke the hypnotic silence. He turned the settler stories on their heads and told the droving tales of Murri stockmen and women. He and his sister Hazel McKellar then recorded the tales of massacres, including the one their grandmother had survived. </p>
<p>Still, the “Cunnamulla Fella”, who lived on damper and wallaby stew and was conjured by country singer Slim Dusty, is the figure who endures as a statue in the town. A selfie with the “Fella” is a tick on the roaming grey-nomad bucket list.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449103/original/file-20220301-23-r6dz3u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poster created by the supporters of Aboriginal human rights justice during the period prior to the parliamentary reform of the Australian Constitution in 1967.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Felix Farley</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An ugly reality</h2>
<p>Dark histories haunt places and often recur in other uncanny manifestations. Some may consider the Cunnamulla Fella a charming artefact of a bygone age, but there was nothing charming about <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/out-of-sight-out-of-mind---1969/2833724">Out of Sight, Out of Mind</a>, the depiction of the town by ABC’s Four Corners program in 1969. </p>
<p>This film, broadcast just two years after the referendum that brought First Nations people into the mainstream, was one of those moments when current affairs television excelled. It brought the shameful reality of life in fringe camps into middle-class loungerooms. </p>
<p>The pale, well-spoken journalist was doing a good job, but looked like a creature from another planet, dropped in to share his outrage. It was an excoriating portrayal of the wrongful conviction of an Aboriginal woman, and of the shocking conditions in the two town camps that were home to descendants of the Kunja people who had once been shot and poisoned by graziers.</p>
<p>Audiences around the country reacted with fury. “I’m praying for [mayor] Jack Tonkin’s soul in purgatory,” one wrote, “but I don’t like my chances.” ABC management prohibited the sale of the program to the BBC; the picture it painted was too ugly for international consumption.</p>
<p>The broadcast prompted an immediate political response: money suddenly became available to build 26 fibro houses scattered through the town. When I visited eight years later, the houses were built and only the remnants of the camps remained. The community links that had given life in the settlement its own coherence had dissipated; drunkenness had become the destructive norm. </p>
<p>The angry racism that once fuelled the frontier wars still had full-throated voice. Like so many outback towns, Cunnamulla seemed to be dying. “You have to blame it on something, what better than the boongs,” one angry newcomer told me.</p>
<p>Those I met on that short trip felt no need to hide their fury. The media had destroyed their town. “We were doing the right thing by the blacks until Four Corners came along,” one self-appointed spokesman berated me when I attended a dinner organised by the Rotary Club. </p>
<h2>‘I just want a fair go for the white fella’</h2>
<p>The anger in the room bubbled up as they listened to social worker Matt Foley’s talk. When it came time for questions, the local solicitor chairing the meeting passed around handwritten notes: “tone it down”, “no aggressive questions”, “calm down”. The back and forth continued until well after midnight. Then, like a storm that had passed, the tone changed. “We’re still friends, aren’t we?” the man who had most aggressively blamed the media at the start of the evening asked as he wandered off to his car. He should not have been driving.</p>
<p>In the morning a taxi driver who had been part of the angry group the night before nearly ran me over and then demanded I get into his car for a tour of the camps and the new houses. He knew who to blame. As we drove along the uncurbed streets he pointed to one rundown house after another:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Black house, white house, black house … I hope you are going to give those bastards heaps … I just want a fair go
for the white fella. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the previous six months there had been nearly 300 convictions for drunkenness: 163 Aboriginal men and 58 women; 55 white men and two women. “You can’t live here without drinking,” my not-so-friendly taxi driver declared.</p>
<p>Four of the women I met stood out and have remained with me ever since. One was the doctor’s elderly receptionist. When I knocked, she answered the door to the surgery armed with a paper knife. “You learn to expect anything, and prepare yourself,” she said as she put the blade in a drawer. </p>
<p>Another was a tough, damaged woman who owned one of the three pubs that served Aboriginal people. She had installed a metal cage along the bar. “I don’t know why the blacks drink here. I like them, but I’ve lost control. I don’t care how much I lose, I’m selling this place,” she told me. </p>
<p>Outside her pub a young woman, who looked at least 20 years older than she was, grabbed my arm and repeated, over and over,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m just a black mongrel bastard. I got no one, I got nowhere to go, I’m just a black mongrel bastard.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/non-indigenous-australians-shouldnt-fear-a-first-nations-voice-to-parliament-176675">Non-Indigenous Australians shouldn't fear a First Nations Voice to Parliament</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Hazel McKellar’s reforming energy</h2>
<p>The most outstanding person in the town was <a href="https://www.magabala.com/collections/hazel-mckellar">Hazel McKellar</a>. She was the antithesis of what <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4305785-the-spectre-of-truganini-1980-boyer-lectures">Bernard Smith would later describe</a> as the “tragic muse” of Australian arts, the “old Aboriginal woman surviving precariously as a fringe dweller in some unknown country town”. She was a handsome, intelligent woman who, since returning to Cunnamulla after working as a housemaid on stations, had devoted herself to holding her community together as external and internal forces conspired to pull it apart.</p>
<p>Even in progressive circles, the prevailing image of Aboriginal people in the late 1970s was as victims – people with little agency or authority, people who had been damaged or destroyed. </p>
<p>Hazel McKellar did not fit this stereotype. She had big ideas and was prepared to pull whatever levers she could to realise them. She wanted a different school curriculum so children could learn about their culture, something the local school’s principal thought “might be helpful for slow learners”. </p>
<p>Two-thirds of the 440 students at the primary school were Aboriginal, but the experience of their forebears was not evident in the curriculum. In Year 5 social studies, as the principal helpfully explained, “We teach the kiddies about explorers and the opening up of Australia.”</p>
<p>Hazel McKellar’s advocacy for including cultural knowledge was ahead of the zeitgeist. Within a few years she was writing books that captured this knowledge. Her brother Herb Wharton had put the old brigade on notice through his poetry, which they celebrated; they may not have liked what he said, but they understood his language. </p>
<p>During those intense few days in 1977, Hazel and I talked about the immediate past, but not the longer past that had shaped it. Her focus was on the future. She campaigned relentlessly for improvements to health, housing and education, and for a cultural and community centre. </p>
<p>“It’s the little things that niggle, like knowing there is only one white family in town whose kids will come to an Aboriginal kid’s party,” she told me. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve just learnt to not go where I am not wanted. It used to make me angry, and I still resent it at times, but you have to accept it, I guess. But it’s only us who are keeping this place going.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘Settled in the Dreamtime’</h2>
<p>By 2019, the map of south-west Queensland was closer to what it would have looked like about 170 years earlier, when Thomas Mitchell had swept through the region identifying land suitable for cattle. The aerial view of the region from the National Native Title Tribunal’s map now shows a vast patchwork of native title lands, and many places of significant cultural heritage. To the west and south of Cunnamulla, 200,000 square kilometres of land has been returned to traditional
owners.</p>
<p>When Hazel McKellar told me in 1977 that it was only her people who would keep the area going, neither of us could have anticipated this transformation. By 2021, the sign at the entrance declared Cunnamulla a “Heritage Town”, “Settled in the Dreamtime”. </p>
<p>The ancient stories of the land and its people, once a cause of such embarrassment and shame, had become a source of pride and inspiration. Anonymous trolls may rage on Twitter, but no one would say out loud the things that they had once said to me, notebook in hand, spellchecking names as I jotted down their comments.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/read-listen-understand-why-non-indigenous-australians-should-read-first-nations-writing-78925">Alexis Wright</a> is a Waanyi woman who grew up in Cloncurry, more than 1000 kilometres north-west of Cunnamulla, at the other end of the Channel Country that regulates the cycles of life in the vast inland. It is the town where Scott Morrison tramped through the cemetery looking for his great-great-aunt Dame Mary Gilmore’s graveyard. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449077/original/file-20220301-21-1hi15g4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alexis Wright.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victor Long</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2007, Wright became the second First Nations writer to win the Miles Franklin Literary Award for her magisterial novel <a href="https://giramondopublishing.com/books/carpentaria/">Carpentaria</a>, then won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for fiction – the first Aboriginal author to do so. It was recognition that would have been inconceivable 30 years earlier. </p>
<p>The celebration of her remarkable book was, inevitably, tinged by politics. On the eve of her win in June 2007, the Howard government launched its Northern Territory
Intervention, when troops and public servants were sent into remote First Nations communities. The softly spoken author was asked about the intervention and replied with passionate denunciation: there were real problems of abuse in some communities, but a unilateral intervention without consultation could not be the solution. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-years-on-its-time-we-learned-the-lessons-from-the-failed-northern-territory-intervention-79198">Ten years on, it's time we learned the lessons from the failed Northern Territory Intervention</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The gestation of Carpentaria had taken many years, as Wright had tried to bring to the page the stories and ways of being she had heard from the old people. Every major publisher rejected the opus before Ivor Indyk at Giramondo Press recognised the novel’s unique brilliance. </p>
<p>In an astonishingly original way, Wright tells hitherto invisible stories and captures the spirit of a different way of storytelling. Her stories wove back on themselves, rich with magic, symbolism, grit and determination; they turned time and place and the conventions of English literature inside out and made her a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. </p>
<p>The profound change embodied in the accolades she continues to receive, and the insights she shares about the idea of Australia, have very little to do with anxiety about detachment from Britain. Her novels, like many others, better answer the question Who are we? than any politician has for decades. As has happened before and will happen again, by making the political personal and turning it into culture, Wright encourages a new, fit-for-purpose understanding to emerge.</p>
<h2>Culture changes</h2>
<p>In 1890, another Queensland novelist, Arthur Vogan, wrote <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59771/59771-h/59771-h.htm">The Black Police</a> about the massacres in the state’s Channel Country and his shocked reactions to the way they were applauded by settlers. </p>
<p>It was a surprising popular success. Although local newspapers bristled with reports of deaths from incursions, it was a contentious subject, and one that made for a challenging novel. The critics were scathing, but it struck a nerve and was reprinted several times. </p>
<p>Arthur Vogan lost his job as a journalist, just as Carl Feilberg had done a decade before following his campaign against the Native Police in The Queenslander. Like Feilberg, Vogan also realised he was on a blacklist and had to leave. He moved as far away as he could—to Perth—and gave up writing for some time.</p>
<p>He was one of many authors punished for writing an “anti-Australian” novel. This was a smear that would be spread thickly for decades. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449091/original/file-20220301-23-9pq0ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ruth Park.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1947, Ruth Park was subjected to an organised campaign of threats and vilification for the life she portrayed in Surry Hills in <a href="https://www.griffithreview.com/harp-south-ruth-park/">The Harp in the South</a>, which had won a competition run by the Sydney Morning Herald. Subscription cancellations and letters <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460713501/books-that-made-us/">poured in to the editor</a>, all asking different versions of the same question: “Why should Australia, with all her beauty to choose from, have to go to the sewer for her literature?”</p>
<p>Ruth Park also retreated. She left the country amid a chorus of criticism and only returned years later. Now her novels are on school reading lists, Wikipedia lists the dozens of prizes she won, and in 2006 she was recognised in The Bulletin’s list
of the hundred most influential Australians. Culture changes, and as it does, once unpalatable truths can be said out loud and challenge and correct ill-informed angry outbursts.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract from <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/politics-government/The-Idea-of-Australia-Julianne-Schultz-9781760879303">The Idea of Australia</a> by Julianne Schultz (Allen & Unwin)</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Julianne Schultz will talk about The Idea of Australia, in conversation with Peter Mares, <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/the-idea-of-australia-julianne-schultz-peter-mares-in-conversation/">at ACMI on Friday 11 March</a> at 6pm. Free, bookings required. The event will be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm8C4iP3fuQ">livestreamed online</a> via ACMI’s YouTube channel. She will also be <a href="https://linktr.ee/julianneschultz">speaking at various events</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julianne Schultz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s political economy was built on the primacy of (white) male labor, male power and male control, writes Julianne Schultz. Women have changed this culture - but still risk abuse when speaking out.Julianne Schultz, Professor of Media and Culture, Griffith University, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541582021-02-10T18:13:47Z2021-02-10T18:13:47ZWe need beach access for everyone, and that includes people with a disability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382959/original/file-20210208-17-c13196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2620%2C2136&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/myphotobank</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Beach trips are a traditional part of our summers, but for some Kiwis and their family members living with a disability it can be a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/community-beach-wheelchair-option-explored-by-central-hawkes-bay-district-council/RQ3H4JMJ52IKOHCHH7ESX56KKM/">limiting experience</a>.</p>
<p>Around <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/disability-survey-2013">1 in 4</a> New Zealanders have a disability. Their <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/assets/New-Zealand-Disability-Strategy-files/pdf-nz-disability-strategy-2016.pdf">disability</a> arises not from their impairments but from having to live in world designed by people who think everyone is the same.</p>
<p>It is society, not the individual’s impairment, that is disabling. Thus, it is society that should be enabling.</p>
<p>Examples of enabling measures are seen in efforts to provide beach access for those with disabilities with the installation of <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/12/takapuna-beach-installs-auckland-s-first-wheelchair-access-mat.html">beach mats</a> for wheelchairs, or the provision of <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/waihi-beach-has-its-first-beach-wheelchair/G35J5G6ZVKMON7PXZNZVAMZSUY/">beach wheelchairs</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1335493311742660609"}"></div></p>
<p>But after an able-bodied woman suffered a significant leg injury on a beach mat, there are now <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300205955/woman-calls-for-removal-of-disability-beach-mat-after-injuring-foot-advocates-defend-it">concerns</a> that Auckland City Council, and other councils across the country, might review the provision of such such mats.</p>
<h2>Disabled rights</h2>
<p>Any such decisions must take the rights of people with disabilities into account. These rights are to be found in international human rights law, and New Zealand’s own law.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bilingual-road-signs-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-would-tell-us-where-we-are-as-a-nation-150438">Bilingual road signs in Aotearoa New Zealand would tell us where we are as a nation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The rights of people with disabilities are protected by international human rights law <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/factsheet2rev.1en.pdf">generally</a>, which recognises that everyone is born equal and all have to the right to be free from discrimination.</p>
<p>More dedicated protection is found in the United Nations <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/read-the-convention/">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006</a>, which New Zealand accepted in 2008. </p>
<p>The convention prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, which it describes as the interaction of people with disabilities and attitudinal and environmental barriers.</p>
<p>It also requires countries should take action to ensure accessibility to a range of spaces and services for people with disabilities on an equal basis with those of non-disabled people.</p>
<h2>Let’s be reasonable</h2>
<p>These rights, like most other rights, must be weighed up with other considerations. A key concept here is <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/read-the-convention/">reasonable accommodation</a>.</p>
<p>This means that necessary and appropriate changes should be made that allow people with disabilities to enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others. But such changes should not impose a disproportionate or undue burden.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/optional-protocol/read-the-optional-protocol/">Optional Protocol</a> to the convention was also adopted in 2006, which means complaints can be made by individuals to the UN. New Zealand accepted this agreement in 2016.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Peace-Rights-and-Security/Human-rights/NZ-Human-Rights-Action-Plan.pdf">New Zealand International Human Rights Action Plan 2019-2023</a> also prioritises the country’s leadership role in advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities. </p>
<p>At the domestic level, the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225519.html">New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990</a> says everyone has the right to be free from discrimination and the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304475.html">Human Rights Act 1993</a> prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability.</p>
<p>Domestic law also includes the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0088/49.0/DLM333584.html">Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994</a>, which established both the role of the Health and Disability Commissioner and a <a href="https://www.hdc.org.nz/your-rights/about-the-code/code-of-health-and-disability-services-consumers-rights/">Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights</a>.</p>
<p>One of the purposes of the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0091/latest/DLM80057.html">New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000</a> is to promote the inclusion, societal participation and independence of people with disabilities. The <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2008/0064/latest/DLM1404012.html">Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act 2008</a> was passed with the aim of giving effect to New Zealand’s obligations under the UN Convention. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/assets/New-Zealand-Disability-Strategy-files/pdf-nz-disability-strategy-2016.pdf">New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026</a> guides the work of government agencies on disability issues.</p>
<p>The strategy is informed by the the UN Convention. It is also informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, reflecting the cultural importance of whānau and a whānau-centred approach of concepts of family and disability.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.odi.govt.nz/disability-action-plan-2/">Disability Action Plan 2019-2023</a> seeks to implement the Disability Strategy and the UN Convention.</p>
<h2>Design public spaces for all</h2>
<p>These legal obligations and policy measures also extend to local authorities. The decisions of such authorities regarding access to public spaces can have a profound impact on the rights of people with disabilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A long pathway mat on a beach with a disabled access sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383185/original/file-20210209-15-uo4dmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical beach mat to help with wheelchair access to the beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Tabatha Del Fabbro</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The provision of beach mats and/or wheelchairs is one practical example that provides people with disabilities with access to the sand and the sea.</p>
<p>But councils can think bigger by also providing mobility spaces that fits all users, appropriately designed footpaths and kerb ramps that lead to accessible seating, shade areas and picnic areas, as well as public toilets that can be used by those with disabilities and their carers.</p>
<p>There is particular room for improvement with the latter and calls for councils to build <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/01/hamilton-mother-takes-on-mission-to-roll-out-fully-accessible-bathrooms-across-country.html">fully accessible bathrooms</a> to cater to people with multiple or complex disabilities. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-aotearoa-new-zealands-early-polynesian-settlement-should-be-recognised-with-world-heritage-site-status-149981">Why Aotearoa New Zealand's early Polynesian settlement should be recognised with World Heritage Site status</a>
</strong>
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<p>Cost may well be a concern but access to the beach for people with disabilities should not be presented as an optional extra. Ensuring the safety of all beach users will be a paramount consideration, as will the protection of the natural environment.</p>
<p>A diverse and inclusive society means everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at all times. A failure to do so brings its own costs.</p>
<p>New Zealand Herald readers just voted <a href="https://www.whakatane.com/discover/destinations/ohope-beach">Ōhope beach</a> as New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-zealands-best-beach-2021-winner-revealed-ohope-bay-of-plenty/H666CKN4P3E4DFDM2I7PGMJXUA/">best beach</a> in 2021. One of the reasons given was that everyone — from paddleboarders to kitesurfers to those in wheelchairs — is welcome at Ōhope. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1350948601384599555"}"></div></p>
<p>For many New Zealanders, a dip in the ocean on summer days is a simple pleasure but for some, it is simply <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/12/takapuna-beach-installs-auckland-s-first-wheelchair-access-mat.html">life-changing</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A trip to the beach is off limits for some people with a disability. We need to change that, and the law supports it.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1474662020-10-07T14:55:47Z2020-10-07T14:55:47ZZuma’s attack on a judge is without merit, but it’s dangerous for South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361831/original/file-20201006-18-1ky53oe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former South African president Jacob Zuma at the Zondo Commission in July 2020.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Mike Hutchings</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/post-truth-politics-and-why-the-antidote-isnt-simply-fact-checking-and-truth-87364">“Post-truth”</a> culture is exemplified by the constant negation of fact-finding, expertise and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/14/the-death-of-truth-how-we-gave-up-on-facts-and-ended-up-with-trump">research</a>. Within such a culture, speakers, whether they occupy positions of power or are commenting anonymously on social media, become increasingly comfortable with claiming that reality is whatever they say it is. This, without any need to offer evidence which can be evaluated against objective criteria through <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=donald-trump&ruling=false">reasoned argument</a>. </p>
<p>Former South African president Jacob Zuma adopted this approach when he recently demanded that Deputy Chief Justice <a href="https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/13-current-judges/72-deputy-chief-justice-ray-zondo">Ray Zondo</a>, the head of the <a href="https://www.sastatecapture.org.za/">state capture inquiry</a> investigating grand corruption during Zuma’s tenure, recuse himself. He claimed the judge was biased against him. </p>
<p>His lawyer’s letter to the commission <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-09-30-zumas-move-to-recuse-zondo-cynicism-meets-panic-meets-staggering-hypocrisy/">states</a> that Zuma is “of the firm view” that Zondo’s alleged bias against him stems from “personal matters and strained relations that the chairperson ought to have disclosed right at the beginning of the inquiry” and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the fact that the President and the Chairperson have historical, personal, family and professional relations that ought to have been publicly disclosed by the chairperson before accepting his appointment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No evidence is provided of the strained relations, nor of what aspect of Justice Zondo’s and Zuma’s personal dealings could have resulted in bias. Zuma’s “view” alone is sufficient.</p>
<h2>Testing impartiality of judges</h2>
<p>Claiming a right to determine reality by mere say-so is becoming increasingly commonplace, but we should never get used to it. It is dangerous, because it has the potential to destroy two of the foundations of a healthy society: recognising the distinction between facts and opinions, and using reasoned argument, rather than status, to establish the truth.</p>
<p>Since 1999, we have had a test for the impartiality of individual judges from the Constitutional Court case of <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/1999/9.html">President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) and Others</a>. In this case, the head of the South African Football Union, Louis Luyt, asked five of the judges on the Constitutional Court to recuse themselves because of their personal relationship with Nelson Mandela, the president of democratic South Africa at the time.</p>
<p>Luyt complained that the then Chief Justice <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/chief-justice-arthur-chaskalson">Arthur Chaskalson</a> had attended the wedding of Mandela’s son. He also said other judges had been closely associated with the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), before their appointment to the Constitutional Court.</p>
<p>The court rejected the application. It held that the test that the applicant had to meet was objective, and that the onus of establishing it rested upon the applicant, who had to show that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a reasonable, objective and informed person would on the correct facts reasonably apprehend that the judge has not or will not bring an impartial mind to bear on the adjudication of the case, that is a mind open to persuasion by the evidence and the submissions of counsel.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The judge himself or herself decides the application, although refusals to recuse can be taken on review to higher courts. The court also emphasised the presumption that judicial officers are impartial in adjudicating disputes, because </p>
<blockquote>
<p>legal training and experience prepare judges (to determine) where the truth may lie in a welter of contradictory evidence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Finally, the court stressed strongly that the reasonable apprehension must be that “the judicial officer will not decide the case impartially” and not that he or she “will decide the case adversely to one party”.</p>
<p>The question is whether the same impartiality test applies to chairs of commissions of inquiry as well. </p>
<h2>Weighing Zuma’s claim</h2>
<p>In one way, the impartiality of chairs of commissions might appear even more important. That’s because they are actively involved in the collection of evidence, rather than sitting back passively while two sets of lawyers present the evidence of their choice in the adversarial setting of a court case.</p>
<p>On the other hand, commissions of inquiry do not make binding rulings. All they do is to give advice to the office who created them, and their recommendations have no direct effect on persons implicated in the reports. But if we assume that the same, stringent test applies to the chair of a commission, it is likely that Justice Zondo’s past association with Zuma will not be a ground for recusal.</p>
<p>Most importantly, Zuma’s own view of Justice Zondo’s bias – “firm” or not – will simply not be the deciding factor in determining whether Justice Zondo is biased. What will matter is whether a reasonable, objective and informed person would understand that Justice Zondo has not brought, or will not bring, an impartial mind to bear on the evidence.</p>
<p>Zuma has not provided any evidence to prove, as he is required to do, that Justice Zondo would not bring an impartial mind to the task before him. Indeed, some of the “evidence” mentioned in the letter amounts to a complaint that Zuma is not being given preferential treatment. Thus it treats as bias a generally applicable rule announced by Justice Zondo – that the Commission makes the final decision on hearing dates, not the witnesses – and the fact that Justice Zondo did not accept that Zuma was ill on one of the occasions that he did not appear before the Commission.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Deputy Chiec Justice Zondo wearing a black suit, blue tie and specs enters the the State capture commisssion venue" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361828/original/file-20201006-20-1npnwwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deputy Chief justice Ray Zondo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In January, Zuma tried to postpone appearing before the <a href="https://www.sastatecapture.org.za/">Commission</a>, <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/documents/210/SEQ_01.2020_-_02._Answering_Affidavit_-_JGZ.pdf">citing ill health</a>. His affidavit included this revealing <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/documents/210/SEQ_01.2020_-_02._Answering_Affidavit_-_JGZ.pdf,%20para%2032">statement (paragraph 35)</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I urge the Commission to accept that my views on State Capture answer the various opinions expressed by different individuals who have given their views to the Commission. The Commission and its witnesses are entitled to their views about me, but I am equally entitled to reject them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The letter by Zuma’s lawyers demanding Justice Zondo’s recusal does not even bother to state that Zuma provided sufficient evidence of his illness when he wanted to postpone his hearing in January. He sees it as proof of bias (which he is stating now) that Justice Zondo did not accept his evidence then. </p>
<p>It is up to the Chair to evaluate the evidence brought to the Commission, including evidence that a witness is unable to attend. It is thus not in itself a sign of bias if the Chair finds the evidence insufficient. Again, Zuma seems offended that his own “reality” has not been validated by the person whose job it is to consider all evidence impartially, on its own merits.</p>
<h2>Cynical move</h2>
<p>Facts matter. It’s the job of courts and commissions of inquiry to work out what they are. The statements by other witnesses implicating Zuma in orchestrating grand corruption are not “views”. They are central factual allegations that Zuma must address so that the Commission can determine the extent of corruption and its agents. “Compelling” Zuma to do so through a summons (one of Zuma’s complaints in January) is not a sign of bias or bullying. </p>
<p>It is a sign of a commission doing its job on terms approved by the Constitutional Court. By casting doubt on the impartiality of the Chair, Zuma is probably just buying time. But he is also discrediting a vital institution for ending corruption in South Africa, and undermining the process which South Africa needs for a clean start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathleen Powell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Claiming a right to determine reality by mere say-so is becoming increasingly commonplace, but we should never get used to it.Cathleen Powell, Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1465462020-09-21T14:04:13Z2020-09-21T14:04:13ZGinsburg’s legal victories for women led to landmark anti-discrimination rulings for the LGBTQ community, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358924/original/file-20200920-22-1yinx6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C13%2C4432%2C2950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Michael Widomski, left, and David Hagedorn at the makeshift memorial for Justice Ginsburg in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Ginsburg officiated their wedding in 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/michael-widomski-and-david-hagedorn-embrace-after-leaving-a-news-photo/1228622387?adppopup=true">Samuel Corum/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The well-deserved tributes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the wake of her death justifiably focus on her transformational role in ending centuries of legal discrimination against women. </p>
<p>Starting in 1971, Ginsburg won five cases before the Supreme Court based on the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv">equal protection clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment</a>. Those cases led the court to end blatant discriminate against women.</p>
<p>She was not the first woman who attempted to use the 14th Amendment to achieve equality. Yet her legal theories, determination and brilliant litigation strategy won, where others before her had failed. </p>
<p>It is less known that Ginsburg’s victories on behalf of women also provided a roadmap and legal precedent for ending legal discrimination against the LGBTQ community.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sitting in her chambers in 2002." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358925/original/file-20200920-20-15ll5rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her chambers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-sits-in-her-news-photo/2396958?adppopup=true">David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unequal protection</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiv">14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War</a>, in 1868, to give formerly enslaved Black people and their progeny equal protection under the law. It states, in part: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; … nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” </p>
<p>Women’s rights advocates immediately tried to use the 14th Amendment’s broad language to gain rights. At the time that the 14th Amendment was enacted, women could not own property or vote and were considered their husbands’ property. </p>
<p>They focused on the 14th Amendment’s broadly worded “privileges and immunities” clause as a way to gain some form of legal protection. Because that clause had no fixed meaning, it could be interpreted, they believed, in a way that advanced women’s rights.</p>
<p>So, in 1872, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Bradwell-v-State-of-Illinois">Myra Bradwell sued the state of Illinois</a> after being denied a license to practice law because she was a woman. Ruling against her, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Bradwell did not legally exist separately from her husband, and that the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/83/130">privilege and immunities clause did not require the state</a> to allow her or any other woman to pursue a professional career.</p>
<p>Similarly, in 1872, activists, including Susan B. Anthony, invoked the 14th Amendment to demand the right to vote. Anthony and several others were arrested after they voted in the November election. At <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/sbaaccount.html">Anthony’s trial</a>, the judge said “The 14th Amendment gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting by Miss Anthony was in violation of the law.”</p>
<p>One woman in Missouri, Virginia Minor, sued when she was refused the right to even register to vote. She argued <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/88/162">before the U.S. Supreme Court</a> – through her lawyer husband – that the 14th Amendment guaranteed her the right to vote as a “privilege and immunity.” </p>
<p>She lost. </p>
<h2>Credit where it’s due</h2>
<p>A century later, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s work transformed American jurisprudence for women. To do this, she also invoked the 14th Amendment. But this time, she focused on the amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which was enacted to protect newly-freed enslaved people. </p>
<p>Ginsburg did not devise this strategy alone. She was inspired by the writings of the African American lawyer and civil rights activist, <a href="https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/who-is-pauli">Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray</a>. Murray, <a href="https://now.org/about/history/finding-pauli-murray/">a co-founder of the National Organization for Women</a>, argued that the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause could be used to guarantee gender equality. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Joseph and Lt. Sharron Frontiero" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359052/original/file-20200921-20-f9h8yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joseph and Lt. Sharron Frontiero. Ginsburg successfully brought a 1973 case on behalf of Joseph, who was denied military benefits on the theory that women could not be primary economic providers for their families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manchester-massachusetts-air-force-lt-sharon-frontiero-news-photo/515398514?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Murray’s 1950s book, “<a href="https://ugapress.org/book/9780820350639/states-laws-on-race-and-color/">States’ Laws on Race and Color</a>,” was considered <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/the-invisible-women-of-the-civil-rights-movement/">the bible of the civil rights movement</a>. Ginsburg was so influenced by Murray’s work that she listed Murray as a co-author of her first U.S. Supreme Court gender justice brief, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/404/71">Reed v. Reed, in 1971</a>. </p>
<p>The legal strategy that Ginsburg used, however, was her own.</p>
<p>In 1971, the notion of women’s equality was absurd to most people. Ginsburg, who was at the top her her class at Harvard and Columbia law schools, <a href="https://time.com/5660188/ruth-bader-ginsburg-dies/">could not get a job after she graduated</a>. </p>
<p>Predicting that a Supreme Court composed of older white men would likely dismiss demands by women that they should be treated equally, she realized gender stereotypes could be shattered only if white men argued that women should be treated equally under the law. </p>
<p>For example, in the 1973 case, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/411/677">Frontiero v. Richardson</a>, she successfully sued on behalf of the husband of a female Air Force officer, who was refused military benefits on the theory that women could not be primary economic providers for their families.</p>
<p>Similarly, in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/420/636/">Weinberger v. Weisenfeld</a> in 1975, she sued on behalf of a man who had been denied Social Security survivor benefits. That agency automatically assumed that men would not need survivor benefits because they earned more than their wives. </p>
<p>This was a brilliant strategy. Based on the five lawsuits that Ginsburg won, the Supreme Court articulated for the first time that the 14th Amendment was not only the vehicle for racial equality – it could also be invoked to achieve gender-based equality. </p>
<h2>Another 30 years</h2>
<p>Even after Ginsburg’s victories in the 1970s, women still did not have equal rights under the law. The equal protection women enjoyed, according to the Supreme Court, wasn’t as strong as the protection that the Constitution afforded against racial discrimination.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until over 30 years later, in 1996, when she was a sitting justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, that Ginsburg fully equalized the playing field for women. </p>
<p>In the case <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1995/94-1941">United States v. Virginia Military Academy</a>, Justice Ginsburg wrote for the court’s majority that “exacting scrutiny” must be applied to any law that treats women differently than men.</p>
<p>She wrote that any law that “denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature - equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society” violated the equal protection Clause.</p>
<h2>The RBG playbook</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Justice Neil Gorsuch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358926/original/file-20200920-16-j46574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion in a 2020 case that expanded employment discrimination protection to LGBTQ workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supreme-court-associate-justice-neil-gorsuch-poses-for-a-news-photo/691165204?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once it was cemented into law that the equal protection clause could overturn non-race-based discriminatory laws, other marginalized groups began using the Equal Protection Clause to gain equal rights, including the LGBTQ community. </p>
<p>Their first victory was a 1996 ruling, Romer v. Evans, overturning laws around the country <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-1039.ZO.html">that made gay sex a crime</a>.</p>
<p>A series of similar victories based on the equal protection clause followed, all written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative Republican appointee. Those decisions culminated in the 2015 landmark ruling <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">Obergefell v. Hodges</a>, where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, expanding the application of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause to cover LGBTQ persons, by requiring all states to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">Justice Kennedy’s opinion</a>, which extols the virtues of marriage, states that “It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage… They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants that right.”</p>
<p>In 2020, the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/17-1618">Bostock v. Clayton County</a> decision, which banned employment discrimination against LGBTQ workers, used a similar analysis. Even though it was based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, <a href="https://law.rutgers.edu/directory/view/venetis">as a legal scholar</a>, I believe the language used by Trump appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the court’s majority opinion, comes straight out of the RBG playbook.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17-1618">Gorsuch wrote</a>: “Those who adopted the Civil Rights Act might not have anticipated their work would lead to this particular result. … But the limits of the drafters’ imagination supply no reason to ignore the law’s demands … Only the written word is the law, and all persons are entitled to its benefit.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>These advances were only possible because Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for applying the equal protection clause beyond its original purpose, to promote equality for women.</p>
<p>To echo Justice Gorsuch, that is something that the drafters of the 14th Amendment certainly never considered, and almost certainly never would have endorsed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Venetis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death sparked many tributes to her work ending sex discrimination against women. That work also paved the way for successes in the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community.Penny Venetis, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1081502018-12-13T11:45:44Z2018-12-13T11:45:44ZIn 2019, women’s rights are still not explicitly recognized in US Constitution<p>Over nine decades, efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to recognize women’s rights have faced major challenges. </p>
<p>Congress finally passed such legislation, known as the Equal Rights Amendment, in 1972. The <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg1523.pdf">amendment</a> would recognize women’s equal rights to men under the law. </p>
<p>Despite concerted campaigns by women’s rights groups, it fell short of the 38 states that needed to ratify it in order for it to become part of the Constitution. The original deadline for states to ratify was 1979. Congress extended the deadline to 1982, but even then it still fell three states short of <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/equal-rights-amendment-passed-by-congress">passage</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, women’s rights activists have continued working to get states to <a href="https://now.org/resource/chronology-of-the-equal-rights-amendment-1923-1996/">ratify</a> it. </p>
<p>Many ERA proponents argue that the deadline is irrelevant because the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits changes to the salaries of congressional legislators, was <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42979.pdf">ratified in 1992</a>, 203 years after it was introduced. The same could happen to the ERA, they argue. They maintain that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/us/equal-rights-amendment-illinois.html">Congress</a> has the power to change the deadline and recognize the 38 ratification votes to approve the amendment.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-equal-rights-amendment-illinois-20180530-story.html">constitutional experts</a>, however, argue that it may be too late, since the deadline passed more than three decades ago. They also suggest that, while its passage would have symbolic importance, the ERA might only make a difference at the margins where the law still allows sex discrimination. </p>
<p>I’m a scholar who studies <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/sociology/political-sociology/abortion-politics-mass-media-and-social-movements-america?format=HB&isbn=9781107069237">gender</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2329496515603726?casa_token=4HXIJlECyQQAAAAA%3AY9b0XOGxgif8EinuzkdxBcW53F80hF0khTztRdnu3Kx6DxC5I0_Nou7RiY8K3KsLxdIk6QgaxWyb">politics</a>. Here’s a quick summary of how the country got to this point and the barriers that still exist to adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.</p>
<h2>‘Ladies against women’</h2>
<p>Women’s rights advocates argue that sex discrimination is a pervasive problem that could be resolved by the ERA. Even though the Equal Protection Clause in the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html">14th Amendment</a> prohibits states from denying any person equal protection under the law, women’s rights are not explicitly guaranteed.</p>
<p>The push for equal rights heated up in the 1920s after women gained the right to vote. <a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012280242">Alice Paul</a>, a suffragette, proposed the first version of an Equal Rights Amendment in 1923. The proposal was adopted and turned into proposed legislation by two Kansas Republicans, Sen. Charles Curtis and Rep. Daniel Anthony Jr., and was brought up during every congressional session between 1923 and 1971 without success.</p>
<p>The idea of an Equal Rights Amendment, however, gained momentum among politicians and the broader public. <a href="https://bepl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:316728/ada">World War II</a> opened many doors for women, who filled gaps in the labor force while men were off fighting. During this time, women were welcomed into politics, onto juries, openly wooed by educational institutions and encouraged to take up male-dominated majors such as math, science and technology.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250374/original/file-20181213-110253-1yhjz22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wilma Scott Heide, center, president of the National Organization for Women, aka NOW, appears with two other women at a press conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 1973.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-DC-USA-APHS459194-Equal-Rights-Amen-/e662fac2a9a248c4816a647546f63ffa/1/0">AP Photo/Jim Palmer</a></span>
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<p>By 1970, the Equal Rights Amendment had been endorsed by four sitting presidents – Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, and Democrats John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The fledgling feminist group, the <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100290360">National Organization for Women</a>, adopted the passage of the ERA in its 1967 Bill of Rights for Women and began staging massive demonstrations and lobbying politicians in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an effort to get Congress to pass the amendment. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42979.pdf">in 1972</a>, the ERA passed both houses of Congress. The Amendment would have seven years to be ratified by three-fourths, or 38, of the 50 states.</p>
<p>While 30 states ratified the ERA in 1972 and 1973, the amendment ultimately came up three states short of approval by the 1979 deadline. </p>
<p>This was in large part due to the efforts of conservative women’s organizations such as <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo5977742.html">Eagle Forum</a> and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/sociology/political-sociology/abortion-politics-mass-media-and-social-movements-america?format=HB&isbn=9781107069237">Concerned Women for America</a> that opposed it. Conservative women <a href="https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/32/4/348/1734706">regarded the ERA</a> as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-era-pass-in-the-metoo-era-87901">threat</a> to the family and child-rearing because it would disrupt traditional gender roles. They also believed women would lose, among other things, their exemptions from the draft and combat duty.</p>
<p>States such as Illinois and Florida became battlegrounds for liberal and conservative women fighting over the amendment. Feminists successfully lobbied Congress to extend the ERA’s ratification deadline to June 30, 1982. The ERA, however, was not ratified by the three states needed to ensure its passage. In 1982, conservative women proclaimed the Equal Rights Amendment officially dead. </p>
<h2>Another chance?</h2>
<p>A number of recent events have put the ERA back on the political agenda: high-profile allegations of sexual assault, the #MeToo movement and, among other issues, increasing restrictions on women’s access to abortion. </p>
<p>Since 2017, two more states – <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/31/615832255/one-more-to-go-illinois-ratifies-equal-rights-amendment">Nevada and Illinois</a> – have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Supporters are now <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-equal-rights-amendment-has-languished-for-decades-virginia-must-put-it-over-the-top/2018/11/29/c454c8f4-f3f0-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html?utm_term=.11b907510481">rallying support in Virginia</a>, hoping it will the next and final state to ratify it in 2019.</p>
<p>At the same time, for a number of reasons, <a href="https://history.nebraska.gov/blog/nebraskas-again-again-relationship-equal-rights-amendment">Nebraska</a>, Tennessee, Idaho, South Dakota and Kentucky rescinded their ERA ratifications between 1972 and 1982. Some state legislators argued that the amendment was <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo5977742.html">too controversial</a> given its potential to upend traditional gender roles and legalize what they called “abortion on demand.”</p>
<p>So, even if Virginia legislators ratify the amendment, the fate of the Equal Rights Amendment is unclear.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court could weigh in on whether these reversals should impact the amendment’s addition to the Constitution. But, it is not clear that it would. In fact, the Supreme Court opted not to rule on a rescinded ratification in 1939 on the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/307/474/">Child Labor Amendment</a> whose ratification period had expired. </p>
<p>Likewise, it’s unclear how Congress will respond since the amendment expired decades ago. Congress certainly has the power to ignore the five rescinded ratifications – it has done so <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/06/20/the-equal-rights-amendment-is-one-state-from-ratification-now-what/?utm_term=.b5ceadc9c3c7">in the past</a>. But, in a highly polarized political environment, that may prove difficult.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deana Rohlinger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the #MeToo era and with more women entering Congress, activists are hopeful another state could ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. But is it too late?Deana Rohlinger, Professor of Sociology, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1083222018-12-07T11:40:57Z2018-12-07T11:40:57ZFight for federal right to education takes a new turn<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249318/original/file-20181206-128208-1bln74n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The nation's founders saw education as key to self-rule.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/digital-composite-statue-liberty-supreme-court-279495323?src=4XfHCs9m3BpeFe2C8OQDWw-1-54">Joseph Sohm/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new fight to secure a federal constitutional right to education is spreading across the country. This fight has been a long time coming and is now suddenly at full steam.</p>
<p>In 1973, plaintiffs in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1972/71-1332">San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez</a> argued that school funding inequities violated the right to education. The Supreme Court rejected education as a fundamental right under the federal Constitution, leaving funding inequalities in Texas and elsewhere completely untouched. For more than 40 years, no one even dared to directly challenge Rodriguez’s conclusion in court. Now, in just two years, four different legal teams and plaintiff groups have done just that. But this time, they are shifting their arguments away from just claims about money. They are focusing on educational quality, literacy and learning outcomes.</p>
<p>The boldest claim was <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/11/lawsuit-constitutional-right-education/576901/">filed</a> on Nov. 29 in Rhode Island, arguing for an education that prepares students for citizenship – an argument that draws directly on my own legal <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2982509">research</a> and expertise as a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=621981">scholar of education law</a>. </p>
<p>When plaintiffs filed the first two cases in Detroit and Connecticut in 2016, the Supreme Court was set to shift significantly to the left. Hillary Clinton was a strong favorite to win the presidency and fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. What looked like perfect timing for plaintiffs in mid-2016 turned awful a few months later when Clinton lost. The questions now are why plaintiffs, including new ones, continue to press forward and whether they have any chance of winning. The answers lie in a strange and tangled confluence of events that include school funding shifts, new legal theories and evolving cultural challenges.</p>
<h2>Steep declines in school funding</h2>
<p>Schools’ real-world problems are first and foremost driving the litigation. Detroit’s schools, for instance, are among the most segregated, lowest performing and most financially strapped in the country. The net result, plaintiffs allege, are schools where “<a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-13-Complaint.pdf">illiteracy is the norm</a>.” Detroit’s problems, while severe, are not entirely unique. Public schools nationwide are suffering from increasing <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/5/17080218/school-segregation-getting-worse-data">segregation</a> and a decade of steep <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/decade-of-neglect-2018.pdf">funding cuts</a>. </p>
<p>State tax revenues have been up since 2012, but most states continue to fund education at a <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/a-punishing-decade-for-school-funding">lower level</a> than they did before the 2008 recession. </p>
<p>While many state supreme courts allow students to challenge educational inequality and inadequacy, about 20 do not. The courts that bar such challenges say that educational opportunity involves issues beyond their authority to tackle. So children’s right to challenge educational deprivations sadly depends on where they live. Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island are three of the states where kids have no recourse in state court. This explains why three of the four new lawsuits are in these states.</p>
<h2>A novel approach</h2>
<p>Whether these cases succeed, however, depends far more on the legal theories behind them than egregious facts. The Rodriguez ruling rejected the fundamental right to “equal” education. Plaintiffs in Michigan and Connecticut assert a fundamental right to “adequate” education, not equal education. More specifically, the plaintiffs call it <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3034130/Martinez-v-Malloy-Complaint.pdf">minimally adequate education</a> in Connecticut and <a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-13-Complaint.pdf">literacy</a> in Michigan. Earlier this year, the lower courts in those cases rejected the notion that this nuance was significant and held that kids do not have a federal right to those things either. </p>
<p>The case just filed in Rhode Island seeks to avoid that trap by doing something completely new. It focuses on the civics knowledge and skills that our democratic form of government demands of citizens – a topic with deep historical roots. My recent <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2982509">research</a> demonstrated that our founders intended public education to be a core aspect of the “republican form of government” that our federal Constitution demands.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249328/original/file-20181206-128202-6m3s3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The nation’s founders encouraged public education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/signing-declaration-independence-us-two-dollar-272952671?src=FHIsoVfe_PGqcOyEBAeH4g-1-2">vkilikov/www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our republican form of government began as an experiment in the idea that everyday citizens could govern themselves. But our founders – people like George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3256887">emphasized</a> that public education was necessary for those governments to work. In legislation that would dictate how the western territory would be divided up and later become states, Congress in the Northwest Ordinances of <a href="https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1150.html">1785</a> and <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=8&page=transcript">1787</a> mandated that each township reserve a central lot for public schools and that the states use their public resources to “forever encourage” those schools. </p>
<p>The most explicit evidence of education’s necessity comes from Southern states’ readmission to the Union following the Civil War. Congress <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-constitutional-right-to-education-is-long-overdue-88445">forced</a> all the Southern states to provide for education in their state constitutions and explicitly conditioned the readmission of the last three states’ on those states never depriving students of the education rights they had just extended to citizens.</p>
<p>Congress was not acting arbitrarily. The Constitution requires Congress to “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiv">guarantee</a>” a republican form of government in the states. The South’s <a href="https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/docs1.html">criminalization</a> of literacy among blacks, refusal to create school systems for middle-class whites, and general failure to operate a government that looked anything like democracy only reinforced the wisdom of the nation’s founding ideas. Following the war, Congress took decisive steps to correct the South’s failures in education and give full meaning to the constitutional idea of a republican form of government. </p>
<h2>Prospects for federal right to education</h2>
<p>Whether this history will serve as the key to unlock the right to education for today’s generation is uncertain. Regardless of the merits of these cases, Donald Trump’s nominations have made the Supreme Court more conservative. Yet, recent political cycles have also exposed weaknesses in America’s democracy and the need for a better-informed electorate, as everyday citizens struggle to make sense of highly polarized political debates, fake news and conflicting media accounts.</p>
<p>Public education cannot solve democracy’s challenges by itself, much less do so in a short period of time. The challenges are far too large. But if the nation is to secure a meaningful long-term solution, it will be through the same strategy as the founders.</p>
<p>They long ago warned in <a href="http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl47.php">letters</a>, <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washs08.asp">presidential addresses</a> to Congress and other <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/2016/06/21/local-news/4-things-worth-knowing-about-massachusetts-constitution-which-236-years-old">official acts</a> that the strength of our democracy would depend on public education cultivating the skills of citizenship. Public education was to be the fuel that makes democracy work and the only sure guarantee that those controlling government will preserve rights and liberties, rather than trample on them. Put that way, the federal right to education may be a moonshot, but it is one the plaintiffs in these cases cannot afford to miss.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek W. Black does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Supreme Court long ago rejected the idea of a federal right to education. Can a series of new lawsuits convince the court to change its mind?Derek W. Black, Professor of Law, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879012017-12-01T01:26:39Z2017-12-01T01:26:39ZCould the ERA pass in the #Metoo era?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197221/original/file-20171130-30931-ngdxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Fearless Girl' dons a pink hat on March 8, 2017, on Wall Street in New York. An inscription at the base reads, 'Know the power of women in leadership. She makes a difference.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mark Lennihan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eighty percent of people polled in 2016 think that the United States Constitution <a href="http://www.eracoalition.org/files/ERAPollingPressRelease.pdf">already has an amendment</a> protecting equal rights for women. When they learn otherwise, more than <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/4/24/1086021/-Daily-Kos-SEIU-poll-Huge-majority-of-Americans-support-equal-rights-for-women-in-Constitution">90 percent support an ERA.</a> </p>
<p>As a historian who studies <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/881139421">women in the modern U.S.</a>, I wondered, what does this mean about the future of the ERA? More specifically, what does it mean in a country that recently elected a president who lacked political experience and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/28/politics/donald-trump-access-hollywood-analysis/index.html">boasted about sexually assaulting women</a> during a campaign that vilified the accomplished female candidate in the tired sexist language of yesteryear? In the words of her opponent, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33O7jg50FjE">She doesn’t have the look. She doesn’t have the stamina.”</a> Other detractors simply called her a <a href="https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2016/11/01/sid-miller-called-hillary-clinton-a-cunt-are-we-supposed-to-be-surprised">“c—,”</a> but spelled it out. </p>
<p>Could this political climate possibly give rise to an Equal Rights Amendment? </p>
<h2>Arguments don’t last forever</h2>
<p>To be clear, the overwhelming support pollsters have charted for an ERA is probably less a message of support for feminist legislation than it is a revelation about the disappearance of age-old arguments against it. More specifically, women have lost – or are in the process of losing – the very “privileges” that were invoked to defeat the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/march-22-1972-equal-right-amendment-for-women-passed-by-congress/">quick history</a>: In 1972, both houses of Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment and sent it to the states for ratification. Within one year, 30 of the 38 states needed had ratified the ERA. Success seemed right around the corner.</p>
<p>Until it didn’t. Backlash against early feminist triumphs mobilized quickly. Interests as diverse as <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/707188729">Coors Brewing Company</a>, the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/8012.html">Mormon Church and evangelical Christians</a> opposed the ERA. Attorney and activist Phyllis Schlafly mobilized opponents into a STOP ERA movement. Schlafly cast the ERA as a false god of “rights” that would erode American women’s unparalleled “privileges.” More specifically and damningly, she warned that the ERA would:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>deprive mothers of their children in cases of divorce</p></li>
<li><p>legalize “homosexual marriage”</p></li>
<li><p>eliminate women’s restrooms and other sex-segregated public facilities</p></li>
<li><p>draft women into military combat</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This was fearmongering at its best – or worst. Many, if not most, American women in the 1970s found the idea of any of these possibilities – let alone all of them – terrifying. <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/divided-we-stand-9781632863140/">Schlafly used these fears</a> to turn women against the ERA. </p>
<p>By 1982, the ERA was dead. At one point, it was just three states short of ratification. Later, four states made a legally questionable attempt to “rescind” their earlier vote to ratify before an extended deadline slipped by.</p>
<p>Fast forward to 2017. Not only has <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21707169-firebrand-critic-american-feminism-was-92-obituary-phyllis-schlafly-died-september">Phyllis Schlafly died</a>, but the threats that helped defeat the ERA have been nearly completely realized – but they have been realized without, not because of, an ERA.</p>
<p>In cases of divorce, mothers no longer receive preference in determining custody. Indeed, in most states, divorced mothers lose partial custody of their children to <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/best_interest.pdf">joint custody arrangements.</a> What inspired this new approach? Not equality concerns but “the best interest of the child” – a phrase that dates back to the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx">1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. The U.S. has signed, but not ratified, this document. Even so, the language and orientation of “the best interest of the child” has now permeated American child custody law where it reduces, in most cases, a mother’s custody rights.</p>
<p>“Homosexual marriage” is also now the law of the land, thanks to the 2015 Supreme Court case, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">Obergefell v. Hodges</a>. The court’s reasoning had nothing to do with sex equality but everything to do with individual rights, the importance of marriage to our “social order” and the best interests of children.</p>
<p>Women’s restrooms are also on their way out. While transgender activists fight in the nation’s <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/-bathroom-bill-legislative-tracking635951130.aspx">legislatures</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/06/518795387/supreme-court-wont-hear-transgender-teens-challenge-to-bathroom-policy">courts</a> for access to women-only restrooms, fitting rooms and locker rooms, society has begun to adapt. Many public spaces – from restaurants and Target to museums and university campuses – now offer gender-neutral restrooms or explicitly invite patrons to choose a restroom based on their gender identity rather than their sex.</p>
<p>Finally, the big bugaboo of drafting women into the military is also on the horizon. Not only did individual candidates for the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/07/should-women-be-drafted-its-a-question-that-finally-joined-the-presidential-debate/?utm_term=.394f394075d4">2016 Republican nomination support requiring women</a> to register for the Selective Service, but a majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress also support it. Indeed, the U.S. Congress appointed a Military Commission on Military, National, and Public Service to study the issue in preparation for a <a href="https://www.nationalservice.gov/build-your-capacity/grantee-communication-center/announcing-national-commission-military-national">2018 or 2019 vote.</a> Trump explicitly <a href="https://fas.org/man/eprint/selective.pdf">instructed</a> the commission to examine the possibility of extending mandatory registration to women. Considerations of sex equality seem unlikely to be driving Republican interest in requiring women to join men in <a href="https://www.sss.gov/Home/Registration">registering for the Selective Service.</a> More likely the appeal lies in the possibilities a gender-neutral draft offers for expanding the military and mobilizing for war, should the draft ever come back into use.</p>
<p>This is a profoundly important moment in women’s history. The major arguments that defeated the ERA are no longer relevant. The “privileges” that inequality purportedly provided women are no more.</p>
<p>But do American women still need an ERA? In my opinion, yes. Today, threats to women’s equality are, in many ways, greater than ever as women confront ongoing and perhaps even increased sexual harassment and assaults on their bodies and rights. An ERA could establish a constitutional foundation for challenging discrimination that threatens women’s health, safety and very lives. Moreover, an ERA would require that courts evaluate sex discrimination using the same high level of scrutiny that <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/equal-means-equal">they apply to race discrimination cases.</a></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197223/original/file-20171130-30937-93hr10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hazel Hunkines Hallinnan, one of the original suffragists, fans herself after marching in support of the ERA in 1977.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP photo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The good news is that this Trump moment could present a tipping point.</p>
<p>Just last spring, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/21/520962541/nevada-on-cusp-of-ratifying-equal-rights-amendment-35-years-after-deadline">Nevada ratified the ERA</a>. Belated ratification carries dubious legal weight, but it certainly indicates revived interest. States, including <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-york/articles/2017-05-17/push-is-on-for-equal-rights-amendment-in-new-york-state">New York</a>, are addressing the new threats to women’s rights by gearing up to pass their own ERAs. Several Democrats in Congress seem to agree that the time <a href="https://maloney.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/me-too-movement-renews-equal-rights-amendment-push">might be ripe for the ERA.</a> Indeed, the unprecedented mobilization of women we saw in the worldwide women’s marches last January might yet culminate in a sea change for women’s equality, one no one could have predicted on Nov. 8, 2016. Americans might, finally, write into the U.S. Constitution the 170-year-old declaration by reformers at Seneca Falls that “all men and women are created equal.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Ann Wheeler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A huge majority of Americans support equal rights for women. Is now the right time to get an amendment passed?Leigh Ann Wheeler, Professor of History, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/866702017-11-12T23:05:27Z2017-11-12T23:05:27ZHow women bring about peace and change in Liberia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194051/original/file-20171109-13337-1f07fr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women wearing their WIPNET T-shirts plan a peace jamboree the day before the Liberian election in October 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Carter Center)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the first woman to lead an African country. Her two terms in office ended <a href="https://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/op-ed/5987-liberia-pres-sirleaf-legacy-and-new-president-s-challenge">with elections last month</a> since, like the United States, presidents in Liberia are barred from serving more than two terms.</p>
<p>Affectionately known as “Ma Ellen,” Sirleaf took office at the end of a 14-year civil war in which an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/04/westafrica.qanda">estimated 200,000 Liberians were killed.</a> </p>
<p>Sickened and fatigued by war, thousands of Liberian women, <a href="https://tavaana.org/en/content/how-women-liberia-fought-peace-and-won">through mass action,</a> brought about an end to the conflict in 2003. </p>
<p>These same women took great risks to elect Sirleaf on her promise to sustain peace and make gender equality central to her administration’s agenda. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/world/africa/liberia-president-ellen-johnson-sirleaf-women-voters.html">Some women</a> hid their sons’ voter ID cards to prevent them from voting for Sirleaf’s opponent; others tricked the young men into exchanging their cards for beer; still others managed market stalls while their female owners went to register to vote and watched babies so that mothers could vote on Election Day.</p>
<p>These women, many of whom belong to the Women in Peace Building Network (WIPNET), are identifiable by their white T-shirts with blue WIPNET insignia. They are a powerful, widely respected group for what they have accomplished and continue to fight for.</p>
<p>When Sirleaf came to power in 2005, the world was electrified. On Inauguration Day in January 2006, proud Liberians, world leaders and dignitaries watched as <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2006/1/17/ellen_johnson_sirleaf_sworn_in_as">she took the oath of office.</a> </p>
<p>Sirleaf singled out the women in the peace movement, thanking them for their courage, and committed to supporting their agenda. The Sirleaf administration kept some of its promises but with notable challenges. Liberia has tough rape laws, <a href="http://www.friendsofunfpa.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=288">but weak enforcement mechanisms,</a> and in 2016, Parliament signed into a law a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-liberia-fgm/lack-of-fgm-ban-in-domestic-violence-law-fails-liberias-girls-activists-say-idUSKCN10728F?il=0">new domestic violence bill</a> but removed a ban on female genital mutilation.</p>
<p>At the end of Sirleaf’s two terms in office, peace has held, but the results of progress on gender equality are mixed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193853/original/file-20171108-14209-1l4l28p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shares a laugh with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia in November 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women and peace huts</h2>
<p>Today, some of the powerful grassroots women who brought Sirleaf to power are at the forefront of running <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/3/peace-huts-help-liberian-women-rise-post-ebola">what are known as peace huts.</a> Spread across the country, the purposes of these huts are to put women in charge of mediating domestic abuse and other disputes before they escalate, to empower women through entrepreneurial opportunities and to educate them about their rights. </p>
<p>By and large, Liberian women and girls are well aware of their rights, and especially those enshrined in the <a href="http://www.peacewomen.org/SCR-1325">UN Security Council Resolution 1325.</a></p>
<p>Adopted in 2000, the resolution recognizes that women bear the brunt and horrors of war, and calls for women’s full participation in conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. Peace huts in Liberia are instrumental in teaching women — including those not formally educated — about these rights.</p>
<p>Peace huts work for gender equality, peace and human rights. But they do much more. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28755033">The Ebola crisis of 2014</a> led to the deaths of an estimated 11,315 people and strained already fragile health-care systems. Women who ran peace huts in some of the communities stepped in to help the sick and dying, and <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/3/peace-huts-help-liberian-women-rise-post-ebola">some of them died in the process.</a></p>
<h2>Gains and losses</h2>
<p>There is general agreement among most Liberians that the Sirleaf administration stabilized the country and attracted investment. But there are those who also feel that, notwithstanding a staunch patriarchal culture, women have actually lost ground, especially in politics. </p>
<p>Of the 1,026 approved candidates in the election cycle, only 163 were women, and, in a field of 20 candidates, only one woman, Macdella Cooper, ran for president, <a href="https://www.msafropolitan.com/2017/09/how-ellen-johnson-sirleaffailed-the-african-feminist-agenda.html">and she lost badly.</a></p>
<p>Tackling corruption, infrastructure, youth unemployment and reconciliation by promoting national unity and advancing a peace agenda <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/liberia-elections-key-issues-171007095516742.html">topped ballot issues</a> in the elections. </p>
<p>Noticeably absent was a targeted focus on addressing violence against women and girls. </p>
<p>Yet the UN Women’s Global Database on Violence Against Women report that <a href="http://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en/countries/africa/liberia">39 per cent of Liberian women</a> between 15-49 years old experience physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of intimate partners at least once in their lifetime. </p>
<p>Women who run peace huts spend much of their time supporting victims of gender-based violence. Where they are available, women work with the police to arrest the alleged perpetrators. But justice for victims is often hampered by a weak legal system.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Liberian women <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/world/africa/liberia-women-election.html">rightly view themselves</a> as the guardians of a hard-won peace connected to the fight for gender justice. They view peace as foundational to prosperity that can take root only if there is an end to gender-based violence and respect for rights.</p>
<h2>An uncertain but hopeful future</h2>
<p>The elections on Oct. 10 did not yield clear results. The frontrunners, Sen. George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boaki, were scheduled for a run-off election on Nov. 7. However, the Liberian Supreme Court recently suspended the second round of voting pending an investigation into allegations of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41885629">“fraud and irregularities.”</a></p>
<p>It is, therefore, too early to tell if gender equality will top the new administration’s agenda, but there’s room for guarded optimism. </p>
<p>Large groups of activist women in Liberia are prepared to continue to fight for equality and are unafraid to do so. Wearing their WIPNET T-shirts, women have come out in force in recent years to press the government to change or implement laws, usually with the support of an engaged public. </p>
<p>The new administration would do well to work with women in the peace huts and in civil society to achieve success. Without a strong voice for gender equality, it’s unlikely that the new Liberian government will realize its political goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86670/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erica Lawson receives funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council; Social Science and Humanities Review Board, as well as a Graham and Gail Wright Distinguished Scholar Award. </span></em></p>Thousands of Liberian women have banded together to bring about peace and to fight for women’s rights. They’ve changed the face of the African nation.Erica Lawson, Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Feminist Research, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/842762017-09-25T20:11:56Z2017-09-25T20:11:56ZCognitive ability plays a role in attitudes to equal rights for same-sex couples<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186709/original/file-20170920-19979-lusrif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The same-sex marriage postal ballot forms have been posted to Australians on the electoral roll.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Morgan Sette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/revealed-who-supports-marriage-equality-in-australia-and-who-doesnt-82988">Recently</a>, Alice Campbell and I revealed the demographic traits associated with people expressing support for equal rights for same-sex couples using the <a href="http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda">Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey</a> – a large, longitudinal survey that is representative of the Australian population.</p>
<p>My subsequent analyses of the HILDA Survey point to another important factor: cognitive ability. Specifically, there is a strong and statistically significant association between higher cognitive ability and a greater likelihood to support equal rights between same- and different-sex couples.</p>
<p>This may shed some light on why those who stand against equal rights may not be persuaded by evidence-based arguments in the ongoing marriage equality debate.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/revealed-who-supports-marriage-equality-in-australia-and-who-doesnt-82988">Revealed: who supports marriage equality in Australia – and who doesn’t</a></strong></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Measuring cognitive ability and support for equal rights</h2>
<p>From time to time the HILDA Survey collects one-off information from participants. During the 2012 face-to-face interviews respondents participated in <a href="http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2013n44.pdf">three hands-on tests</a> aimed at determining their cognitive ability. Such tests evaluated the degree to which participants were able to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>recall and recite backwards progressively longer strings of numbers;</p></li>
<li><p>correctly pronounce 50 irregularly spelled words; and</p></li>
<li><p>match symbols and numbers based on a printed key against time.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These tests are not perfect. They may contain some measurement error, may be culturally biased, and may not constitute a complete measure of cognitive ability. Yet they are widely recognised instruments routinely employed in psychological and educational research, and have been shown to be highly correlated with overall intelligence.</p>
<p>My analysis involved estimating the degree of support for the rights of same-sex couples at different levels of this measure of cognitive ability.</p>
<p>To do so, respondents’ scores in the three tests were rescaled and averaged into a composite measure of cognitive ability. Scores ranged from zero (lowest ability) to one (highest ability).</p>
<p>Support for equal rights came from a 2015 HILDA Survey question asking respondents to rate their degree of agreement with the statement “Homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples do” on a scale from one (strongly disagree) to seven (strongly agree).</p>
<h2>A striking association</h2>
<p>Analyses based on a sample of more than 11,600 people revealed that those with lower levels of cognitive ability in 2012 were much less likely than those with high levels of cognitive ability to express support for equal rights in 2015.</p>
<p>The association was substantially and statistically significant.</p>
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<p>Some population groups – older people and those from non-English-speaking backgrounds, for example – may be more opposed to equal rights and also perform worse in cognitive ability tests. For the former group, this may be due to cognitive decline, and for the latter it may be due to English not being their first language.</p>
<p>To prevent this and other factors tampering with the results, I adjusted the models for age, gender, sexual identity, highest educational qualification, religiosity, ethno-migrant background, area remoteness, and state/territory of residence.</p>
<p>After these adjustments, as expected, the association between cognitive ability and support for the rights of same-sex couples faded moderately. Yet it remained large and statistically significant. </p>
<p>It is worth emphasising that education is controlled for in the models. Therefore, the results cannot be explained by people with high cognitive ability having higher educational qualifications.</p>
<p>The results were also quite robust: the patterns remained when excluding respondents from a non-English-speaking background, measuring support in 2011, and considering the measures of cognitive ability separately. However, the magnitude of the association differed across tests.</p>
<h2>Is it only attitudes toward same-sex couples?</h2>
<p>This finding poses the question of whether the pattern extends to people’s views about social equity in other life domains.</p>
<p>To test this, I extended the HILDA Survey analysis to examine the associations between cognitive ability and supportive attitudes toward women’s emancipation, women’s capability as political leaders, and single mothers.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/85GnZ/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="500"></iframe>
<p>The same pattern emerged across all of the outcomes. Higher levels of cognitive ability were unambiguously associated with greater levels of support for egalitarian worldviews.</p>
<h2>What does it all mean?</h2>
<p>The findings do not mean that all who intend to vote “no” in the marriage ballot have a low level of cognitive ability. Nor do they mean that all those who intend to vote “yes” have a high level.</p>
<p>Yet the results suggest that, on average, people who stand against equal rights for same-sex couples are less likely to have cognitive resources that are important to participating in meaningful debate.</p>
<p>These may include the ability to: engage in abstract thinking and process complex chains of ideas; separate arguments based on facts from unfounded ones; not feel threatened by changes in the status quo; and critically engage with new or diverse viewpoints.</p>
<p>These results may thus shed some light over why some on the “no” side may be failing to offer or accept <a href="https://theconversation.com/evidence-is-clear-on-the-benefits-of-legalising-same-sex-marriage-82428">evidence-based arguments</a>, or why they keep relying on philosophically, historically or empirically <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-christians-arguing-no-on-marriage-equality-the-bible-is-not-decisive-82498">flawed ones</a>.</p>
<p>This applies, for instance, to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-are-children-better-off-with-a-mother-and-father-than-with-same-sex-parents-82313">scientifically unsupported</a> claim that children are worse off in same-sex households. In fact, these arguments are being exploited by a “no” advertising campaign that relies almost exclusively on <a href="https://theconversation.com/marriage-vote-how-advocacy-ads-exploit-our-emotions-in-divisive-debates-83501">emotional instead of rational arguments</a>.</p>
<p>It is possible many supporters of the “no” case could not be convinced by reason and evidence. If so, the “yes” side’s best way to minimise the possibility of a surprise “no” victory – one that’s driven by a mobilised minority – may be to target the overwhelming <a href="https://theconversation.com/revealed-who-supports-marriage-equality-in-australia-and-who-doesnt-82988">majority of Australians</a> who support equal rights to have their say.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francisco Perales receives funding from the Australian Research Council as part of its Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme for a project titled 'Sexual Orientation and Life Chances in Contemporary Australia'.</span></em></p>There is a strong and statistically significant association between respondents’ cognitive ability and their support for equal rights between same- and different-sex couples.Francisco Perales, Senior Research Fellow (Institute for Social Science Research & Life Course Centre) and ARC DECRA Fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/798142017-06-22T00:54:11Z2017-06-22T00:54:11ZDrew Faust and old, white men: The changing role of university presidents<p>If your perception of higher education is that it’s led by aging white males, you’re right. According to a <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/American-College-President-Study.aspx">report released this week</a> by the American Council on Education (ACE), the average college president in 2016 was a 62-year-old married white male with a doctorate.</p>
<p>One recent exception was Drew Faust, who was appointed Harvard University’s first-ever female president in 2007. The comings and goings of modern university presidents don’t typically warrant much public attention, but Faust’s retirement announcement last week was covered by The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/harvard-president-resign.html">New York Times</a>, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/06/14/harvard-university-president-drew-gilpin-faust-to-step-down-in-2018">Washington Post</a> and many other leading media outlets.</p>
<p>Why the attention? While it’s true that Faust made important contributions to the university (shepherding Harvard through the financial crisis of 2008 and grappling with the college’s historically exclusive culture), her efforts were not, in my view, groundbreaking. However, as the first woman to lead arguably the most well-known university in the world, Faust broke through one of the highest glass ceilings in academia.</p>
<p>As a scholar of higher education leadership, I’ve seen how Faust’s tenure at Harvard represents an important, albeit slow, change in the diversity of college presidents – a change that still fails to reflect the demographics of the population of students. Her retirement is also at the leading edge of an impending tidal wave of retirements that presents a possibility to reshape the leadership of our colleges and universities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175060/original/file-20170621-30161-vzzavd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Baylor University President Kenneth Starr, left, was followed by the university’s first female president, Linda A. Livingstone, in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why should we care who leads our colleges?</h2>
<p>The average citizen would likely have a hard time naming five out of the more than <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/trendgenerator/tganswer.aspx?sid=1&qid=1">5,000 sitting college presidents</a> in the United States. Exceptions might come when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/education/indiana-governor-will-lead-purdue.html">well-known politicians step into the role</a> or when a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/06/baylor-university-coach-briles-ken-starr/484544/">scandal forces someone to step down</a>.</p>
<p>And yet, colleges and universities are among the nation’s most important social institutions. They educate more than <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372">20 million students</a> every year. They provide critical opportunities for <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/Parchment-Credentials-Competencies-Issue-Brief.pdf">first-generation and underrepresented</a> individuals. They’re also among the nation’s steadiest and most important <a href="http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5608-universities-and-colleges-as-ec.aspx">economic drivers</a>.</p>
<p>In short, universities have become some of the most important <a href="http://community-wealth.org/strategies/panel/anchors/index.html">anchor institutions</a> in our communities. Who leads them and how they are led can have a lasting impact not just on the institutions themselves, but on the surrounding communities and our entire nation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174816/original/file-20170620-32348-g57ju5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The University of Pennsylvania boosts the West Philadelphia economy by millions of dollars each year by purchasing locally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/philadelphia-oct-20-university-pennsylvania-on-342913109?src=Ci1xuY1e3qc2l6lvXIU0ZA-1-65">f11photo/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The slowly diversifying presidency</h2>
<p>In many ways, Drew Faust represents most characteristics of the average college president: She is white, married and over 65 years old. Indeed, according to <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/American-College-President-Study.aspx">the ACE report</a>, the college presidency is older and whiter than it was five years ago.</p>
<p>And despite numerous changes since the 1980s (technology alone has seen the advent of smartphones, social media and the internet), the profile of the college president has remained remarkably the same.</p>
<p>Importantly, this profile largely does not reflect the students that universities serve. In 2015, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_csb.asp">40 percent of students</a> in public four-year institutions were from nonwhite backgrounds. And, more than half of the presidents surveyed by ACE indicated that <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Comprehensive-Demographic-Profile-of-American-College-Presidents-Shows-Slow-Progress-in-Diversifying-Leadership-Ranks.aspx">racial issues on campus were more of a priority</a> than they were three years ago.</p>
<p>The good news is that minority presidencies are up since 2006 – increasing <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/American-College-President-Study.aspx">from 13 to 17 percent</a>. Unfortunately, that modest increase is still not nearly reflective of the changing student demographics and masks a significant drop in Hispanic female presidents.</p>
<p>As for female presidents, Drew Faust’s appointment was not just important for Harvard; it was also representative of a broader trend of bringing more women into these roles. As of 2016, <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/American-College-President-Study.aspx">30 percent of college presidents were women</a> – three times the number in 1986 when the survey was first conducted. Yet, this is still far behind the 57 percent of college students <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372">that are women</a>.</p>
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<h2>Changing pathways to the presidency</h2>
<p>Eleven percent of presidents are <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/American-College-President-Study.aspx">over the age of 71</a> – more than double the number just five years ago. And about one in four reported that their previous role had been as a president or CEO. In other words, universities seem to be appointing experienced candidates.</p>
<p>However, at some point, those at the end of the presidential pipeline will eventually exit it. More than half of the presidents surveyed by ACE indicated they intended to leave their current presidency within five years.</p>
<p>That will give universities the opportunity to bring new talent and experiences into these leadership roles. But where will they come from?</p>
<p>The traditional path to the presidency has long been this: professor to tenured professor to dean to a chief academic officer (commonly called the provost or vice president for academic affairs). Indeed, this still <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Comprehensive-Demographic-Profile-of-American-College-Presidents-Shows-Slow-Progress-in-Diversifying-Leadership-Ranks.aspx">remains the dominant path</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, more and more presidents are skipping the vice presidency on their path to leadership. Drew Faust was appointed as Harvard’s president after serving for six years as the dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. According to the <a href="https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/industry/public-sector/college-presidency-higher-education-leadership.html">Pathways to the Presidency</a> report, this is a very recent trend – one that likely indicates that the next generation of academic leaders believe the traditional pathway is too long.</p>
<p>The impending retirement wave, coupled with pulling more presidents from earlier stages, will likely drop the average age of the presidency. But these traditional pipelines to leadership remain the province of white men. As long as that remains the case, diversity among university presidents will likely remain low. For example, the State University of New York (SUNY) system, where I am a professor, has implemented programs purposefully created to <a href="https://www.suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/03-2017/3-25-17/governor-cuomo-announces-launch-of-suny-hispanic-leadership-institute.html">recruit and prepare a more diverse set</a> of deans, provosts and presidents. Other <a href="http://thenationalforum.org/new-leadership-academy/">universities</a> and <a href="http://www.aascu.org/MLI/">organizations</a> across the country are implementing similar programs. </p>
<h2>A changing of the guard</h2>
<p>Today’s college president is expected to be a mayor, city manager, CEO, academic and fundraiser. In some cases, they oversee physical plants that include housing, hospitals, airports and even nuclear reactors. Their operating budgets are in the hundreds of millions of dollars and they oversee thousands of staff and students. No doubt, it’s a complicated position. </p>
<p>But, these individuals also live within a rapidly changing social fabric and lead institutions that have long served as social anchors. As a group, our nation’s college presidents have an ability to help us collectively navigate these changing times. </p>
<p>As a nation, I believe we need colleges and universities that are forward-looking, responsive to the changing environment and willing to engage in meaningful change. This means that we need a diverse, thoughtful group of university leaders who both appreciate and can advance these agendas. Will we see the profile of the college president change? And, if the profile changes, will we see our colleges change along with it?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79814/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Lane works for the State University of New York, which has 64 college campuses and is regularly searching for new presidents. </span></em></p>Most university presidents in the US are still white, male and over the age of 60. But as they retire, is there an opportunity to reshape college leadership and, with it, higher education itself?Jason E. Lane, Chair and Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership, Executive Director of SUNY's Strategic, Academic, and Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute, and Co-Director of the Cross-Border Education Research Team, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/605062016-06-09T01:52:34Z2016-06-09T01:52:34ZHow Hillary Clinton’s ‘smart power’ feminism informs her foreign policy<p>Both conservatives and progressives <a href="https://www.aei.org/publication/hillary-and-interventionism/">have argued</a> Hillary Rodham Clinton is more “hawkish” than President Obama. </p>
<p>Robert Gates, the secretary of defense under both Presidents Bush and Obama, worked with her in the White House and called her “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/magazine/how-hillary-clinton-became-a-hawk.html?_r=0">a tough lady</a>.”</p>
<p>Bruce Riedel, a South Asia expert at <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/">Brookings Institution</a>, who advised President Obama on Afghanistan war policy, has said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think one of the surprises for Gates and the military was, here they come in expecting a very left-of-center administration, and they discover that they have a secretary of state who’s a little bit right of them on these issues — a little more eager than they are, to a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/magazine/how-hillary-clinton-became-a-hawk.html?_r=0">certain extent</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In my new book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Global-Hillary-Womens-Political-Leadership-in-Cultural-Contexts/Sharma/p/book/9781138829749">“The Global Hillary,”</a> I argue that Hillary’s strong stance on the national security involves two instincts. </p>
<p>First, her <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-daily-news-backs-warrior-realist-hillary-clinton/">realist instinct</a> predisposes her to take the world at face value, not an idealized worldview. Second, her feminist instinct makes her inclusive of differences between the sexes and tolerant of <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/2/theres-a-strong-feminist-case-for-hillary-clinton.html">diversity</a>. </p>
<p>As a hard-nosed realist – the daughter of a staunch Republican and a chief petty naval officer from <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Living-History/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/9780743222259">World War II</a> – she sees the world as a dangerous place. This has shaped her foreign policy. She is an interventionist, not averse to using military force to reshape <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/hillary-clinton-really-loves-military-intervention">the world</a>. Her approach to Libya and Syria was more activist than <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/hillary-clinton-debate-libya/410437/">President Obama’s</a>. </p>
<p>She believes in the force of hard power – military and economic – to fundamentally alter a society’s political culture. The Kosovo war in former Yugoslavia during Bill Clinton’s presidency presents one of the examples of successful use of hard power. <a href="http://www.abc-clio.com/Praeger/product.aspx?pc=D2840C">Vaclav Havel</a>, the late Noble laureate and Czech president, has said Kosovo could be called an ethical war, because “this war placed human rights above the rights of the state.”</p>
<p>President Obama is more of a pragmatic idealist, the son of a bohemian and progressive <a href="http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A2983C">anthropologist mother</a> who worked for international development agencies in Southeast Asia and Africa. He is not inclined to be an interventionist. Obama has relied heavily on special operations and geopolitical strategy to reshape the world <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/us-cuban-relations">from Cuba</a> to <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-obama-way-war-special-ops-syria-history-14238">Iran and Syria</a>.</p>
<h2>The Hillary doctrine</h2>
<p>In their book “<a href="http://www.cupblog.org/?p=17026">The Hillary Doctrine: Sex and American Foreign Policy</a>,” Valerie Hudson and Patricia Leidl examine the claim made by then secretary of state in 2010 that terrorism is fueled by lack of women’s development in different parts of the world. </p>
<p>The linkage between women’s development and violence against women as a national security issue has not been made explicit by the U.S. government in the manner that Hillary Clinton does. This axiomatic linkage states that the subjugation of women leads to the deterioration of human conditions. Clinton’s worldview suggests that in order to improve the social and developmental conditions around the world, we should invest in improving the conditions of women. This view is consistent with the postwar liberalism championed by <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?70278-1/eleanor-roosevelt-shaping-postwar-liberalism">Eleanor Roosevelt.</a></p>
<p>Clinton has systematically pushed for “women’s rights are human rights” as a policy of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/05/20-years-later-hillary-clintons-beijing-speech-on-women-resonates/">the government</a>. As a daughter whose mother was born on the day women secured the right to vote (June 4, 1919), she finds the political deeply personal. This unique perspective on national security may be called “smart power feminism.” </p>
<p>Broad segments of the U.S. population, including suburban married working mothers, or “security moms,” and other middle-class voters of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/23/black-mothers-who-lost-children-to-violence-help-hillary-clinton-appeal-for-gun-control/">different races</a> and ethnic groups seem to find this compelling.</p>
<p>Thus, Hillary’s <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/csissmartpowerreport.pdf">“smart power”</a> strategy relies on elements of America’s hard military power and soft cultural power. This allows Hillary’s hawkish instincts to coexist with her feminist instincts. It makes the world more “secure” and more “inclusive” simultaneously. Finally, it advances the cause of other female politicians entering the male dominated world of electoral politics. </p>
<p>Hillary’s national security feminism is smart power in an increasingly globalized world. It underscores the growing realization that women’s more empathetic and compromise-driven leadership style is better suited for the multilateral challenges of the <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-better-world-run-by-women-1425657910">21st century</a>.</p>
<h2>National security credentials</h2>
<p>Hillary’s national security credentials have gained admirers among neoconservatives like the veteran foreign policy expert <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-the-gops-frankenstein-monster-now-hes-strong-enough-to-destroy-the-party/2016/02/25/3e443f28-dbc1-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html">Robert Kagan</a>. While they have castigated President Obama, the neoconservatives have been aligning themselves with Hillary Clinton in her bid to drive American <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/opinion/sunday/are-neocons-getting-ready-to-ally-with-hillary-clinton.html">foreign policy.</a> </p>
<p>George W. Bush retained the women’s vote <a href="http://time.com/4338757/donald-trump-security-moms-george-bush/">in 2004</a> by warning “security moms” not to change boats midstream. In 2016, Donald Trump is employing a similar strategy with women by projecting himself as the strong man. This strategy may backfire, according to Jennifer Lawless of American University, who argues he won’t be able to “peel back some of that distaste” of his <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/donald-trump-attack-ads/483560/">earlier comments</a>. </p>
<p>As the security analyst Juliette Kayyem has <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/26474/security_mom.html">suggested:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Only Clinton, as a mother and grandmother, can speak to the emotional fear for the safety of our children that animates so many <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/opinions/security-moms-trump-clinton-kayyem/">women voters</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By openly discussing the security risks we face and proposing a less belligerent approach to our friends and foes in the Islamic world, she can win over the group of women who might otherwise vote conservative – that approximately <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/the-avenue/posts/2016/04/29-women-trump-clinton-frey">22 percent</a> of eligible women voters who are white and married with no college degrees.</p>
<p>While the number of security moms may be shrinking, they are nonetheless an important demographic to capture from the conservatives or the <a href="http://presidentialgenderwatch.org/security-moms-2-0/#more-8636">Tea Party</a>. </p>
<h2>Global leadership</h2>
<p>New global threats call for steady leadership. The rise of the Islamic State and homegrown attacks has created a gender gap in the attitudes toward terrorism. </p>
<p>Seventy-nine percent of women say they are not satisfied with progress against terrorism, while 69 percent of <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-hope-for-a-boost-from-security-moms-1452281080">men concur</a>. Only 35 percent of women approved of current handling of terrorism policy, while 64 percent disapproved, creating a huge gap of 30 points. This gap was half as large among men, with 57 percent disapproving and <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-hope-for-a-boost-from-security-moms-1452281080">42 percent approving</a>.</p>
<p>Some Americans believe society is becoming too soft and feminine. Forty-two percent of all Americans versus 68 percent of Trump supporters want to revert back to a more <a href="http://publicreligion.org/research/2016/04/prri-atlantic-2016-survey/#.V1X7sJErKM8">masculine culture</a>. Forty-five percent of all Americans versus 65 percent of Trump supporters say they want a leader who breaks rules in order to fix <a href="http://publicreligion.org/research/2016/04/prri-atlantic-2016-survey/#.V1X7sJErKM8">the system</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, the world demands steady global leadership from <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Global-Obama-Crossroads-of-Leadership-in-the-21st-Century/Sharma-Gielen/p/book/9781848726260">the U.S.</a> A survey of residents of G-20 nations indicated they prefer <a href="https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/394/ressort/politics/article/the-world-wants-hillary">Hillary Clinton</a>. </p>
<p>Since the presidency is one of the last bastions of male-dominated political culture, Clinton has to be much tougher on national security issues in order to appeal to the <a href="http://elections.ap.org/content/gender-politics-playing-big-role-trump-clinton">majority of voters</a>. At the same time, she has successfully advocated for the rights of all minorities, including women of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/politics/hillary-clintons-gender-tightrope/">diverse backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>The critics may argue the rise of national security feminism is problematic. It deflects the blame of widespread domestic violence or abuse in the U.S., where women are still treated as second-class citizens, and advances market-based neoliberal policies worldwide as if to rescue humanity. Inderpal Grewal at Yale University has observed that anxiety about women’s security externalize the “patriarchal violence” in the home by “taking on nationalist discourses of protection” against <a href="http://newwars.web.unc.edu/files/2015/08/grewal-security-moms.pdf">convenient targets</a>. </p>
<p>However, Hillary Rodham Clinton – as the only female nominee of a major political party to offer a comprehensive platform of <a href="http://www.hrc.org/blog/human-rights-campaign-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president">human rights issues</a> – represents hard-won progress for the rights of women, children and men everywhere.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dinesh Sharma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The author of a new book on Clinton’s global impact sees two factors behind her strong foreign policy stance.Dinesh Sharma, Associate Research Professor, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/480082015-10-12T07:42:57Z2015-10-12T07:42:57ZWhy some religious Americans see same-sex marriage as a threat<p>The Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage drew such a strong reaction from every side that it seemed to reflect that Americans live in a country riven by irreconcilable theological values. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">arguing for</a> the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy contended that same-sex marriage was in harmony with the highest ideals of religion: love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, family and dignity. </p>
<p>To the court’s detractors, however, the ruling turned Bible teachings on their head. “Today the Court is wrong again,” the US Conference of Catholic Bishops <a href="http://www.usccb.org/news/2015/15-103.cfm">stated</a>. “It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.”</p>
<p>Pockets of resistance have kept the issue in the news. Best-known is <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/09/kim-davis-gay-marriage-kentucky/404257/">Kim Davis</a>, the Kentucky clerk who was jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing religious objections. Other clerks have voiced <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/07/12/official-resistance-gay-marriages-persists-after-ruling/9AKHH921OddKkLmqu2ETXO/story.html">similar objections</a>.</p>
<p>This is not simply another political debate over what policies are best suited for Americans. Instead, it is part of a long-running battle over what God wants of American Christians. As such, compromise will not be possible until the combatants discern the religious underpinnings that motivate and guide their political adversaries.</p>
<p>As an advocate of reconciliation, I have spent years engaged in
interfaith and interethnic <a href="http://www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/current-dialogue-magazine/dialogue50.pdf">work</a>. So I recently set off from my home in New York City, looking for the seeds of a more productive national discourse on same-sex marriage. </p>
<p>With my research team, we visited a dozen Christian churches of different denominations, from Georgia Pentecostals to liberals in New England. I chose churches from a variety of regions, whose members had different levels of wealth and a variety of racial makeups. I cannot name the churches because I promised anonymity to those interviewed.</p>
<h2>A shared interest in public policy</h2>
<p>As different as the congregations were, they had one thing in common – they all engaged in public policy issues as one aspect of their religious calling, translating the values they hold dear into beliefs about how American society should function.</p>
<p>That religion helps shape the culture of which it is a part should seem cliched. A healthy society will meaningfully address core values if it is to flourish. Researchers like <a href="https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2013/SOC133/um/Haidt_-_The_Righteous_Mind.pdf">Jonathan Haidt</a> and others who study how cultures evolve, argue that all societies share values such as compassion, fairness, respect for authority and loyalty. </p>
<p>In visiting churches, our goal was to test how these values are expressed and translated into public policy. Although we conducted surveys that probed many of these values, for conservatives one question seemed to trump the others – a concern about purity and pollution.</p>
<p>All societies – religious or secular – have an idea about what is pure or sacred, and attempt to protect the pure. This is not just about religion. Cultures may be unique, but they all teach human beings, whether religious or not, to respond to what their society considers sacred. In some places, dogs were considered deities; in others, dirty. To burn the flag can be seen as an ugly defilement – or a sign of a vital democracy. </p>
<p>In the Hebrew Bible, certain diseases, menstrual blood and pigs are examples of pollution. Many Christians also turn to the Bible to ground their understanding of the pure and impure. For conservative Christians, sex can be the great defiler and challenge to God. </p>
<p>This may lead one to expect that conservative Christians would exhibit severe homophobia and hatred against those whose sexual practices and beliefs diverged from their own. There certainly is <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/stigma-and-discrimination.htm">homophobia in America </a>. Yet in my conversations with congregants of every denomination, homophobia wasn’t much in evidence. </p>
<p>Instead, what emerged in our conversations was a central shared belief that we are all sinners, we have no right to distinguish one sin from another, and God wants all of us to repent. </p>
<p>As a minister in Georgia said to me, “If I were to shut my doors to my brother for being gay, then what does that say about the church and Jesus’s message?”</p>
<p>In Kentucky, I heard: “We teach that you could be clear in what you teach [about] same-sex marriage, and also teach that those people are beloved of God and should be welcomed.”</p>
<p>So if it is not homophobia, what is at the core of such anger and pain over same-sex marriage? </p>
<h2>A clarifying question</h2>
<p>Digging deeper into the mindsets of the religious Americans we surveyed, I found a clear distinction in the ways conservative and liberal Christians see the world. This distinction was highlighted by a specific question we asked churchgoers and clergy:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Though you may believe in both, which better reflects your views:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The world is primarily a dangerous place filled with the potential for sinful and evil forces.</p></li>
<li><p>The world is primarily filled with the potential for goodness, care, and cooperation.</p></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>Those who chose the first response, that the world is dangerous with sin and evil, held consistently negative views on everything from same-sex marriage to premarital sex, abortion and condoms for minors. </p>
<p>Those who believed the world is filled with goodness, care and cooperation chose the opposite responses on each of the issues.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MWeNn/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="340"></iframe>
<p>To the Christian population that sees the world filled with sin and evil, same-sex marriage represents a pollution. It undermines the core of what is sacred and holy. And the sin, the pollution, is not limited to the sinners alone. </p>
<p>As my father-in-law, the noted biblical scholar Jacob Milgrom, <a href="https://www.logos.com/product/9222/continental-commentary-series-leviticus-a-book-of-ritual-and-ethics">explains</a>, evildoers “[b]ring down the righteous with them. Those who perish with the wicked are not entirely blameless, however. They are inadvertent sinners who, by having allowed the wicked to flourish, have also contributed to the pollution of the sanctuary.”</p>
<p>For Christian believers in the United States, such pollution threatens to overwhelm the society of which they are a part and undermine its moral fiber. Same-sex marriage wreaks havoc on the core belief that America can be a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and moral rectitude. </p>
<p>However, this was not the case for the great majority of mainstream Christians we surveyed and interviewed. Their focus was on compassion and fairness, as theologian Katherine Henderson <a href="http://www.religioninsights.org/news/auburn-seminary-president-urges-support-gay-marriage">declared</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“As people of faith, we believe that every human being is created in the image of God and has sacred worth. Laws that grant rights and protections to some but not to others, simply because of gender or sexual orientation, are moral outrages.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our survey showed conservative congregants experienced their opposition to same-sex marriage as a desire to make whole something they see as ruptured that endangers all of us. Mainstream Christians saw same-sex marriage as an expression of divine love and justice. Interviews and focus groups confirmed these two core responses to same-sex marriage extended to the other questions, such as distributing condoms in schools and premarital sex in general.</p>
<h2>Hope for the future</h2>
<p>I came away from my recent journey with a much better appreciation for the coherent, theologically based value systems that fuel bitter red state/blue state divisions. Yet, I also saw opportunity for understanding and reconciliation. </p>
<p>Same-sex marriage is here to stay – America does not take away rights and privileges. And while I do not anticipate seeing two men kneeling at their own Catholic church wedding any time soon, there is ample evidence that while purity values are a constant, the object of “contamination” changes over times. </p>
<p>As gay and lesbian couples marry, have children, send them to school, attend church, participate in the civic, social and business life of the community, and are out as members of our own families, homosexuality may well cease to trigger the types of negative responses seen today. </p>
<p>As one congregant in Georgia noted, her now multiethnic church once preached segregation. Perhaps, she mused, her grandchildren will view church views on homosexuality with equal disappointment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Elcott receives funding from the Ford Foundation. He is affiliated with a number of civic initiatives on such issues as criminal justice reform and Middle East reconciliation. </span></em></p>A scholar visited a dozen churches to learn why some religious folks oppose same-sex marriage. He discovered it’s not a simple case of homophobia.David Elcott, Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/136862013-04-29T05:37:29Z2013-04-29T05:37:29ZAye do! France and New Zealand respond to same-sex marriage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22963/original/7pb83dbx-1367196689.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Legalise love: New Zealand approved same-sex legislation in a midst of celebrations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NZN David Williams</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The issue of same-sex marriage in Australia is again part of the national debate, after Independent MP <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/windsor-calls-for-gay-marriage-referendum-20130428-2imu6.html">Tony Windsor announced</a> he was in support of a referendum on the question to be held in parallel with the federal election in September. </p>
<p>This comes after cheering and spontaneous singing broke out from the balcony of the New Zealand parliament earlier this month as MPs voted 77-44 <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gay-marriage-becomes-legal-in-new-zealand-20130417-2i0xz.html">in favour of same-sex marriage rights</a>. The sense that decision makers had taken a historic step forward was palpable, even to the most cynical activists. Julia Gillard was reportedly “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-abbott-unmoved-by-nz-gay-marriage-vote-20130417-2i0sv.html">unmoved</a>”. </p>
<p>A few days later, across the world in France, right wing protesters were forcibly evicted from the parliamentary chamber as MPs voted 321-225 in favour of similar reform. </p>
<p>France and New Zealand now join 12 other countries that recognise same-sex marriage. The list currently is: Argentina, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, The Netherlands and Uruguay. In the United States, same-sex couples can legally marry in <a href="http://www.freedomtomarry.org/states/">nine states</a>.</p>
<h2>Different paths to marriage equality</h2>
<p>The New Zealand and French campaigns for same-sex marriage rights appear to have taken quite different routes up the aisle. According to the press, the French path to equality has “<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/20/gay-marriage-france-violence">divided a nation</a>”. In New Zealand the impression seems to be that a “<a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/john-armstrong-on-politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502865&objectid=10878213">civilised</a>” nation has come together.</p>
<p>There have been substantial protests in Paris in favour of same-sex marriage (estimates of around 125,000 people), but these have been met by even larger numbers (around 350,000) mobilising against. <a href="http://rt.com/news/france-protests-gay-marriage-314/">Violent clashes</a> have broken out between protesters and riot police. </p>
<p>Large demonstrations from the right of politics have been less frequent in recent years, perhaps explaining why coverage of these protests has contained an element of surprise. The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/20/gay-marriage-france-violence">protesters</a> have attempted to give their movement a more progressive veneer, calling it “Le Printemps Français” (the French spring, echoing the Arab revolutions that overthrew brutal dictators). </p>
<p>For LGBTI rights advocates and activists, the “non” campaign in France is particularly concerning because of the impact it is having on levels of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rise-in-homophobic-attacks-mark-passage-of-french-gay-marriage-law-8570475.html">homophobic violence</a>, especially outside of the capital. Gay bars have been targeted, individuals beaten, and calls to LGBTI helplines and support services have increased.</p>
<h2>Why the difference?</h2>
<p>The French bill includes adoption rights for same-sex couples, and affects all legal partnerships, rather than just marriage. But the issues are essentially the same, legal recognition and equality for couples and families regardless of their gender. </p>
<p>According to polls, the majority of both the French and New Zealand populations agree with the reform. Polls in France consistently show <a href="http://yagg.com/2012/08/15/selon-sondage-ifop-65-des-francais-sont-favorables-a-louverture-du-mariage-pour-les-homosexuels/">55-60%</a> in favour; in New Zealand around <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10873630">50-55%</a>. In both countries, as with comparisons around the world, younger people are much more likely to be in favour of equal marriage rights.</p>
<p>Commentators in the mainstream press have given a range of reasons for the negative response in France, usually based on their own position. Most popular seems to be the role and power of the Catholic Church. Yet we have seen other notionally Catholic countries such as Spain and Portugal pass the same law without mass outcry. Others have argued that the anti-reform campaign has been cleverly pitched to a more mainstream audience, at a level that provokes a sense outrage. </p>
<p><a href="http://rt.com/news/gay-marriage-france-law-310/">Frigide Barjot</a>, one of the leading campaigners in France argued that the law would “de-structure” society by “destroying the concept in law of mother and father”, changing the “essence” of the family. Similar arguments were made in New Zealand by Conservative Party leader <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Gay-marriage-vote-a-failure-of-democracy---Craig/tabid/1607/articleID/294731/Default.aspx">Colin Craig</a> calling the legalisation a “failure of democracy”, and warning that a “day of reckoning” would come. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22948/original/8f92pn42-1367193607.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Only one mother, only one father’: anti-gay marriage activists take to the streets of Paris as part of Le Printemps Français movement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Etienne Laurent</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some have suggested the difference might be the relative size of the populations: the smaller number of New Zealanders have learnt how to get along, while the millions in France find it harder to reach agreement. There is no evidence for this.</p>
<p>What we do know is that in both countries the majority of elected politicians supported the bills, by genuine margins. The crucial difference here is the politics of the leadership.</p>
<p>The French parliament is led by the Socialist Party prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, with the support of Socialist Party president Francois Hollande. Before their election in 2012, the Socialist Party put same-sex marriage equality at the centre of their reform agenda. In New Zealand, the prime minister supporting the reform was centre-right National Party leader John Key.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22952/original/qr9vp5df-1367193867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Independent MP Tony Windsor is urging the government to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the ousted political right in France, this campaign has presented a clear opportunity to attack the new left-wing government in moralistic and emotive ways. They have seized this opportunity, working with far right groups, the church and others to wage a relentless battle. In New Zealand, support from conservatives (big and small “c”) has taken the wind out of opposition sails. Presented as a sensible reform, it becomes much harder to resist.</p>
<p>If Australians would prefer the New Zealand response rather than the French, the government and politicians of all parties must be confident to stand up for same-sex marriage rights. The suggestion of holding a <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1760776/Windsor-wants-referendum-on-gay-marriage">referendum</a> on the question is likely to lead to a strengthening of the right and an increase in homophobia. A “no” campaign in Australia could do serious damage to the health and wellbeing of LGBTI people across the country. </p>
<p>Alongside broader medical and legal reforms, granting same-sex marriage rights sends a clear message that homophobia and transphobia are not acceptable. The sooner the Australian government realises this, the better. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roz Ward is actively involved in Equal Love, the campaign for Marriage Equality in Victoria. Roz will be speaking at the next rally at 1pm on May 11th at the State Library in Melbourne.</span></em></p>The issue of same-sex marriage in Australia is again part of the national debate, after Independent MP Tony Windsor announced he was in support of a referendum on the question to be held in parallel with…Roz Ward, GLBTI Health Researcher and Co-founder of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.