Concerned Women for America (CWA) joined other conservative leaders in signing two memorandums that were distributed around the country. You can read the memorandums below.
Memorandum #1 – Follow the Science and Open the Schools
Memorandum #2 – Mrs. Pelosi, Tear Down This Wall
By Keri Ann Thompson, CWA Staff
I have several roles in my life that I cherish and would not want to change for any amount of money or treasure. They are: wife, mother, daughter, sister, godmother, and aunt. There is a feeling of belonging and identity that happens with those words.
I am a wife. My husband chose me, and I chose him. I didn’t earn it. He saw something in me that made him want to cherish me, protect me, love me. I saw something in him that made me want to walk beside him and be his confidant. As my husband, he is my provider and protector. As his wife, I am his constant companion and support. We are different, yet we are equal.
I am a mother. Again, I didn’t earn it. This title is so incredibly precious to me. I was told at a young age that I would likely not have children. We were so surprised after seven years of marriage to find that I was pregnant. We had a beautiful son, then found out about two years later found that we were pregnant again. Tragically, we lost that baby to miscarriage. Blessedly, we have our rainbow baby girl who came along about a year-and-a-half later. Hearing them call me “Mommy” is one of the greatest blessings of my day each day. No other person will be their mommy, just like no other person will be their daddy.
I am a daughter. Once again, I had no choice in the matter. Biology made me a girl. God’s wisdom gave me my unique set of parents. I played with both G.I. Joe and Barbie with my friends; I skateboarded and rode bikes; I climbed trees and jumped out of them; I wore a dress to church on Sunday. These things didn’t make me a daughter or a son. Biology did that.
I am a sister. What a unique bond sisters have. My sister and I did not get along well when we were kids, but now we are an integral part of each other’s lives. I did not choose my sister. She was chosen for me, and I for her. To say that we are “siblings” is technically correct but does not connotate the depth of feeling and relationship that we have. There was a time when “sibling” would have been enough for me. Now, only “sister” carries the weight of our bond.
I am a godmother and an aunt. These relationships are the same to me, except that I got to choose to be a godmother. I did not choose my two nephews, but I did choose my goddaughter and godson. I love these four as if they were my own children. I want what is best for them. I love getting to spoil them, teach them, pray for them, and interact in their lives. I love that they can see me as a second mother to them.
I have other roles in life. I am an employee, a teacher, a friend, a confidant, a counselor, and many more things. None of these things carry the weight to me that those listed previously do. There is a responsibility in those words. There is honor in those words. There is character in those words.
The 117th Congress of the United States of America has decided that those words no longer have any meaning. This small group of people has decided that who I am, what I am, how I identify myself does not matter. As women, we have fought for centuries to be seen as having equal rights with the men around us. We fought for the right to vote. We broke through stereotypes and became business owners, leaders in our communities, and even members of Congress. We have worked so hard to be seen as equals. “Equal” does not mean “erased.” Why are we now allowing ourselves to be erased?
I am a spouse, but more than that, I am a wife.
I am a parent, but more than that, I am a mom.
I am a child, but more than that, I am a daughter.
I am a sibling, but more than that, I am a sister.
I am a relative, but more than that, I am a godmother and aunt.
I will not allow who I am to be erased. Will you?
WASHINGTON, DC – Concerned Women for America LAC, Women’s Liberation Front, Independent Women’s Voice, Save Women’s Sports, Hands Across the Aisle Coalition for Women, and many more united in sending a clear message to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in opposition of the so-called “Equality Act,” which threatens protections and opportunities for women across America.
May 14, 2019
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC, 20515Dear Speaker Pelosi:
Women are uniting in opposition to the so-called “Equality Act” because Congress should only pass laws that protect women, not threaten, silence or abandon us. The Equality Act seeks to enshrine in civil rights law a new protected class of sex based on “gender identity” that claims no objective standard, medical diagnosis, or permanent intent. Under this bill, gender identity is nothing more than a person’s perception of self that can be changed at any time, for any reason, and cannot be challenged.
The danger to women when biological men seek to claim female identity should seem obvious but is being ignored by proponents of this bill. In the course of congressional debate, our voices have been shut out by members who deny these concerns and dismiss them as fearmongering. Tragically, they are the ones willing to put women at risk by promoting a federal law that would overrule any restriction on gender identity claims and abolish the protections of biological sex-specific practices and spaces.
This is an affront to women, putting everything that women have worked to gain, our opportunities and protections, at risk.
As organizations representing hundreds of thousands of women across America, we call on Congress to reject the Equality Act. We stand together against the threats to women proposed by this bill.
We refuse the demand, for ourselves and our daughters, to undress in front of female-identifying men in public accommodations or tolerate them undressing in front of us. Concerns seem obvious for women of faith who follow strict guidelines about interaction with the opposite sex, for victims of sexual assault, or for young girls in public restrooms and dressing rooms. In our society, laws should seek to protect the safety and privacy of every woman and girl, not compromise them in the name of “equality”. The weight of refusal should not be placed on our shoulders with the threat of legal jeopardy silencing us as would be the case in the Equality Act.
We refuse to accept that women in emergency shelters, in jail or in prison — women in desperate and vulnerable circumstances whose public voice is barely a whisper— will be forced to shower and share intimate quarters with biological men because others were too afraid to speak up for them.
We refuse to give up our rights to women-only sports. There are thousands of men and boys alive today who run faster than the fastest female runner who ever lived. Puberty, testosterone, and innate biological differences give physical advantages to males that cannot be mitigated, disqualifying any female athlete from fair competition. To deny this is denying science. Title IX’s purpose and benefit will be negated for females under the so-called Equality Act. The tragedy of this is already being seen in women’s sports and will only intensify.
We refuse to give up the few women-only scholarships and small business programs available. These programs are a necessary and proportional response to women’s historical exclusion from public life and commerce, as well as the different life and career paths women often take.
We refuse to allow security checkpoints at our nation’s airports, or other sensitive locations, from becoming sites of sexual harassment. Security officers should not be required to conduct body searches of people of the opposite sex, nor should members of the public be required to submit to intimate security checks by officers of the opposite sex.
We refuse to give up our right to accept only intimate medical care from female providers or to at least have a female chaperone during such care, if necessary. This is of particular concern for elderly women, or women and girls with profound disabilities, who might lack the capacity to report abuse by male caretakers.
We refuse to believe children innately require sterilization as minors, by chemical or surgical means, in order to affirm fluid gender perceptions, social stereotypes, or personal expressions. Society should seek to protect the health of children’s bodies and their natural course of maturation through the turbulent, often distressing years of growth and development. The Equality Act would normalize the practice of gender transitioning of minors, which is dangerously on the rise, especially among adolescent girls.
Denying the dangers of the so-called Equality Act for women and girls is a disservice to honest debate. We urge Congress to pass laws that protect and defend the rights and dignity of women and the gains we have made, not laws that risk our safety and our opportunities. The Equality Act is a threat to women, and Congress should reject it.
Sincerely,
Beverly LaHaye
Chairman of the Board
Concerned Women for America LACPenny Nance
CEO & President
Concerned Women for America LACNatasha Chart
Chairman of the Board
Women’s Liberation FrontHeather R. Higgins
CEO
Independent Women’s VoiceCarrie Lukas
Vice President
Independent Women’s VoiceMeg Kilgannon, FCP
Hands Across the Aisle Coalition for WomenKara Dansky
Chair – DMV Chapter
Women’s Liberation FrontBeth Stelzer, MLT, ACEHC
Member, US Powerlifting
Founder
Save Women’s SportsMichelle Cretella, M.D.
Executive Director
American College of PediatriciansDonna J. Harrison, M.D.
Executive Director
American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and GynecologistsElizabeth Kantor
Senior Editor at Regnery Publishing
Author of The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever AfterMary Rice Hasson, JD
Director, Catholic Women’s ForumKate O’Beirne Fellow,
Ethics and Public Policy CenterMichelle Lentz
President
Child Protection LeaguePatricia Garibay
Founder and Executive Director
American Heritage GirlsMichelle Easton
President
Clare Booth Luce Center for Conservative WomenNancy Schulze
Founder
Republican Congressional Wives SpeakersCathy Ruse, JD
Senior Fellow and Director of Human Dignity
Family Research CouncilRepublican Women of Clifton
Kristen Waggoner
SVP of U.S. Legal Division & Communications
Alliance Defending FreedomSandy Rios
Director of Government Affairs
American Family AssociationStella Morabito
AuthorSheryl Kaufman
Member, Board of Directors
Americans for Limited GovernmentMarlo Tucker
State Director
Concerned Women for America of CaliforniaRuth Smith
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of CaliforniaTerri Johannessen
State Director
Concerned Women for America of FloridaTanya Ditty
State Director
Concerned Women for America of GeorgiaBarbara Ferraro
State Director
Concerned Women for America of HawaiiDeborah Leininger
State Director
Concerned Women for America of IllinoisTamara Scott
State Director
Concerned Women for America of IowBarbara Saldivar
State Director
Concerned Women for America of KansasSancha Haysbert-Smith
State Director
Concerned Women for America of LouisianaPenny Morrell
State Director
Concerned Women for America of MaineBev Ehlen
State Director
Concerned Women for America of MissouriJill Noble
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of MissouriHaven Howard
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of MissouriJill Siceloff Coward
State Director
Concerned Women for America of North CarolinaLinda Thorson
State Director
Concerned Women for America of North DakotaLinda Schauer
State Director
Concerned Women for America of South DakotaRose Herman
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of TexasAnn Hettinger
State Director
Concerned Women for America of TexasKori Peterson
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of TexasMary Smith
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of TexasBeverly Roberts
Area Director
Concerned Women for America of TexasToni DeLancey
State Director
Concerned Women for America of VirginiaMaureen Richardson
State Director
Concerned Women for America of WashingtonKelsey Good
Young Women for America National Coordinator
Concerned Women for AmericaSarah Perry, JD
Director of Partnerships
Family Research CouncilRebecca Teti
Operations Director
Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship(association for ID purposes only)
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Click here for a printer-friendly (.pdf) version of the letter.
Dr. Shea Garrison, Vice President for International Affairs was featured on Truth for our Time Radio Show with Tamara Scott discussing the “Equality Act.”
“Congress should only pass laws that protect and support women and girls but this law threatens the privacy and the safety and the gains we have made. The “Equality Act” will hurt women and girls. This bill puts everything that women have worked for at risk.”
On Monday the Heritage Foundation hosted a panel discussion titled, “The Inequality of the Equality Act: Concerns from the Left” where four self-described liberal feminists, including an openly gay woman and one man who formerly identified as transgender, detailed their concerns over transgender activism. The left is pushing special, elevated, civil rights-type protections for gender identity, but women are becoming the real losers.
Soon, House Democrats are expected to reintroduce the Equality Act and likely expedite its passage. Although the bill may not see Senate action, the deceptively named “Equality Act” could be a difficult political hurdle for some, and details just how far the left will try to push the debate. The Equality Act seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the immutable protected classes outlined in the Civil Rights Act. In addition to very legitimate religious liberty concerns, the Equality Act would directly harm women and girls by compromising sex-segregated spaces and placing women’s privacy and safety in jeopardy.
The left is openly shutting down anyone who dares to question the transgender movement and has no problem eating their own. One of the panelists, Julia Beck, a writer who is a producer at Women’s Liberation Radio News who is openly lesbian, testified how she was removed from Baltimore’s LGBTQ Commission for “using male pronouns to talk about a convicted male rapist who identifies as transgender and prefers female pronouns.” They referred to her speech as violent.
One of the other panelists, Kara Dansky, a board member of the self-described “radical feminist” group the Women’s Liberation Front, pointed out how difficult it is to even define the term “gender identity” without using circular reasoning or gender stereotypes. Gender identity, according to the left, is fluid and is defined as the gender you identify as or as a man wearing dresses or participating in stereotypical female activities. As we know, a woman’s choice to dress a certain way does not determine whether or not she is a woman, sex is an objective scientific, biological fact. The left is so adamant on destroying all gender stereotypes, yet they are still compelled to use them to define gender identity. This is a regressive policy.
In Alaska we have already seen women’s rights trumped by ordinances requiring transgender accommodation. In Downtown Hope Center v. Municipality of Anchorage, a homeless shelter, serving women who have suffered rape, physical abuse, and domestic violence, is being accused of turning away a transgender woman. Women staying at the shelter said, “If you allow biological men to sleep right next to us at night, to disrobe and change right next to us at night, we’ll brave the cold.[1]” This clearly undermines protections for women who have escaped abusive, violent situations and forces them into an uncomfortable, vulnerable position in a place that should be safe.
In the words of these feminists, the Equality Act would erase women, making the unique biological character of being female become meaningless. Sharing similar concerns, Concerned Women for America is joining efforts to ensure women are not erased.
[1]https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Transgender-woman-at-center-of-Downtown-Soup-Kitchen-lawsuit-speaks-out-504529741.html
