Sharia law and tweens getting married

To me, the most astounding part of this story about a mother trying to arrange an annulment for her eight-year old daughter is the quote from the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia: "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her." I would hate to knock someone for having crazy, paternalistic, misogynistic, pedophiliac views when they are based on religious doctrine. Oh right, no I wouldn't mind at all. Wingnut!

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Obama signs bill extending statutory limitation period to file lawsuit for pay discrimination violations

More good news on the equality front. And three cheers for Lilly Ledbetter!

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Good News: A Step Toward Pay Equity!

Via The Gavel:

House Passes the Paycheck Fairness Act

July 31st, 2008 by Jesse Lee

The House has just passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. Furthermore, loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.

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Massachusetts leading the way

I'd like to take the opportunity to give a shout-out to my home state of Massachusetts. Was proud to hear that the State legislature repealed a century old law that prohibited non-residents from getting married in the State. This opens the door for lesbian and gay couples from other states to be married in the Bay State, where same-sex marriage is no longer illegal. The Catholic Church, naturally, opposed the measure. Like anyone should be looking to the Massachusetts Diocese for guidance on morality.

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New: Blog of Rights

Check it out!

The ACLU has just launched the Blog of Rights, to keep you up to date on the latest threats to and victories in our civil liberties.

The Rights are organized by category - of particular interest to Cowgrrl Up! readers are Women's Rights and Reproductive Rights, not to mention LGBT Rights, Immigrant Rights, Racial Justice, U.S. Supreme Courts, and more!
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Marriage Equality!

I've got to shamelessly gush here. The state of California has pushed the nation one step further in marriage equality for all, which is to say full citizenship for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This is a huge step! I was particularly excited to see Jewelle Gomez and Dianne Sabin in this NY Times photo (that's them on the right, about to kiss.) We met them when we lived in SF, and they are the warmest, most wonderful women. Jewelle is a writer and Dianne is a chiropractor. They were plaintiffs in the case.

What the California ruling means for Wyoming is that we will likely see another bill proposed that would bar the state of Wyoming from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states (there was one like this last year). To enshrine such a measure in the state Constitution is overkill to say the least because if Z and I got married in Calif., our rights & benefits already don't travel across state lines. Also look for a state ban on same-sex marriage altogether.

For a run-down on Wyoming's laws regarding LGBT people, check out Human Rights Campaign's excellent website. The Equality State is not at the bottom of the barrel -- the sodomy law was repealed in 1977, same-sex partners can establish power of attorney to make medical decisions for one another -- but amazingly the state still doesn't have a hate crimes law, it's still legal to discriminate against us, and LGBT students are not protected from bullying and harassment.

But all that bad news aside, I'm focused on the great victory in California! I'm so excited I can barely sit still. I want to tell everyone I see! I want to buy a tuxedo and rush to San Francisco with my sweetie on my arm. Femmes look great in tuxes, you know.

Fair Pay Action Alert

This just in from the ACLU:

Don't Let Employers Get Away With Pay Discrimination

Last May, the Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that employees who have suffered years of pay discrimination cannot have their day in court if they don’t discover the discrimination within 180 days of their employer’s initial discriminatory pay decision.

The Ledbetter decision not only reversed years of employment law, it also ignored the realities of a workplace. Often employees don’t know what their co-workers are paid. Further, expecting that they learn that information within the first 180 days of a pay decision is unreasonable. Unless Congress intervenes, companies will be able to discriminate for years and unjustly profit from paying women, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as long as it keeps the discrimination secret for a few months.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to correct this problem, and to ensure employers do not profit from years of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability, simply because their employees were unaware of the discrimination for 180 days. The bill clarified this wage discrimination is not a one-time occurrence, but rather, that each discriminatory paycheck an employer issues represents an ongoing violation of the law.

A similar bill, the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), is now before the U.S. Senate. The time has come for the Senate to correct this wrong and let American workers keep their hard-earned dollars.

Click here to take action.

Race is a feminist issue

The feminist community is understandably divided in their support for Democratic presidential candidates Obama and Clinton. I respect the many perspectives and passionate reasons behind support for each candidate.

Myself, I’m an Obama fan. This was confirmed for me again listening to his speech about race in America yesterday in Philadelphia. As Nation writer John Nichols notes, Obama took the more difficult and ultimately high road of using controversy over Obama’s pastor’s inflammatory remarks as a “teachable moment.”

Because Obama challenges us to come together – men and women of all races and ages – to discuss who we are as Americans and how we are knit together, because of this he is my feminist candidate. Because ultimately, feminism shares the same mission, holds high the same goals: to bring about justice and peace in our country and in the world.

Barack Obama recognizes that true justice, true peace, will come ONLY if we engage in dialogue, a dialogue that requires us to listen deeply to one another and not get caught up in reactionary bias. What I hear consistently in Obama’s speeches is the message that ending injustice is a journey. Similarly feminism is a journey, not a static doctrine nor a fixed identity. Unlearning racism is also a journey, and that is where hope lies. Because we can learn from speeches like Obama’s Philadelphia, because, as he says, “we have seen that America can change,” we too can join the journey of becoming better, more just, more fully realized human beings.

If that’s not a feminist goal, I don’t know what is.

Your tampon is a graveyard

So, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has endorsed a proposal to give fertilized eggs full protection under the law in Colorado. First, let's pause for a moment to marvel at the wingnuttiness that is our neighbor to the South. Ok, done.

Now, let's think for a moment about the ramifications of such a proposal. Fertilized eggs would be considered human beings. So, what do we do about the millions of fertilized eggs that never implant in the uterine lining and never proceed to the embryonic stage that are flushed out in the course of nature during a women's menstrual cycle without even her knowledge? Is the coroner going to go around collecting used tampons to search for "dead bodies" and determine the cause of death? Issue a death certificate? Call in the police to determine whether or not the women committed negligent homicide?

And Pam, of Pandagon, asks: "will a post-coitus woman be able to drive in a HOV lane because she may be carrying a fertilized egg?
* Will the highway patrol need to carry pregnancy testing kits to confirm the ability for them to use HOV lanes on the spot?"

How about we give equal rights to women before extending them to "the unborn"?