WLRN's Thistle Pettersen Interviews Lawyer Ann Menasche
Oct 30, 2019
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Ann Menasche, a seasoned civil rights lawyer and activist, dives into the critical issues surrounding women's rights and gender identity. She discusses Feminists in Struggle's campaign to amend the US Federal Equality Act, clarifying the vital distinction between sex-based and gender-based rights. Ann emphasizes how current legislation may undermine women's protections and highlights the nuanced challenges faced by transgender individuals. Her insights reflect decades of advocacy for economic, social, and civil justice.
The campaign for feminist amendments to the Federal Equality Act aims to enhance protections for women's rights while considering the rights of gender nonconforming individuals.
The discussion emphasizes the crucial distinction between sex-based rights and gender identity, highlighting the risks of conflating these concepts in legislation.
Deep dives
Campaign for Feminist Amendments to the Equality Act
A campaign has been launched to propose feminist amendments to the Federal Equality Act, aiming to enhance the protection of women's rights while also safeguarding the rights of gay and lesbian individuals, as well as gender nonconforming people. The campaign seeks to address perceived flaws in the current act, particularly its merging of sex and gender identity, which activists believe compromises the rights of women and girls. The proposed amendments aim to ensure that sex-based rights are protected, allowing women to organize and fight for their needs, privacy, and safety in different spaces, including sports and shelters. By advocating for clearer distinctions that preserve women's rights, the campaign hopes to foster an environment where all individuals can be both protected and respected for their identities without infringing on the rights of others.
Understanding Sex-Based vs. Gender-Based Rights
The distinction between sex-based rights and gender-based rights is a central theme, with the current legislation causing confusion by equating sex with gender identity. This conflation poses a threat to women’s rights, as it erases the biological realities that impact women's experiences in society. The conversation highlights how gender nonconformity rights should be understood separately from sex, advocating for protections against sex stereotyping, which affects all individuals regardless of their adherence to traditional gender roles. The proposed amendments aim to clarify these protections to ensure that feminist rights and the rights of gender nonconforming individuals coexist without conflict.
Grassroots Movement for Change
The movement is driven by grassroots activism, focusing on garnering support from both organizations and individuals to foster broad backing for the proposed changes to the Equality Act. Plans include building momentum through media engagement and community outreach in order to present the amendments effectively to Congress. While the current political landscape may hinder the immediate passage of such legislation, past successes in states like California provide hopeful examples of potential change. The campaign emphasizes creating a coherent strategy to protect women’s rights while also advocating for the rights of all individuals, pushing against the current ideological challenges in the legal landscapes.
Ann Menasche has devoted most of her life to working for economic and social justice, civil rights, environmental sanity, and peace.
Ann spoke with WLRN via skype about the recent launch of Feminists in Struggle (FIST)'s campaign to amend the US Federal Equality Act. In the interview you will hear Ann talk about the difference between sex and gender and how the concept of "gender identity" effectively erases girls' and women's sex-based rights and protections.
Ms. Menasche has 40 years of litigation experience in civil rights and public interest law, having worked since 2002 in the field of disability rights. She is a long-time activist in the peace, disability rights, and gay rights movements.
Ann came of age during the social movements of the 1960's and 70's. She attended Vassar College in New York and became a leader in the growing anti-Vietnam war, student, and feminist movements.
More information about FIST's campaign is here: https://feministstruggle.org/2019/10/19/feminists-in-struggle-fist-launches-campaign-for-feminist-amendments-to-the-equality-act/
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