Press Release: NOW Calls for Clear Channel to Pull the Plug on Limbaugh!
Alert!
AZ NOW State is planning a "Flush Rush" action on Friday , May 18th.
Meet at KFYI studios: 4686 E. Van Buren, Phoenix. Olga and Mary posed on the street so that you will know where we're protesting. There is parking in the complex, and next door. No parking on the street.
We'll start gathering at 4:30 PM. Make signs and bring toilet paper!
We will have a toilet on display. We are demanding that KFYI join other national networks and advertisers to "flush Rush" from their airwaves.
Let's send a strong message! Bullying women, minorities, and people of color is no longer profitable!
Following the demonstration, we will deliver our accumulated toilet paper to a local homeless shelter also located on Van Buren. For more information, contact Karen Kondej.
Mother's Day 2012
To celebrate Mother's Day 2012, the Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW chapter delivered forty-five gift bags to mother's participating in the Unlimited Potential Readying Program. Our chapter members donated both supplies and money to make this action possible. Our sincere thanks to all of you that mailed checks and donated items. We were able, with your help, to purchase forty-five bilingual children's books. We know these books will be passed on year after year to be enjoyed by countless mother's and children.
Also in our gift bags were pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, highlighters and sheet protectors, items requested by Unlimited Potential. The bags were assembled during our May 9th Chapter meeting and delivered the following morning in time for their Mother's Day party..
This was a special day at Unlimited Potential. Many of the mothers contributed beautiful handmade paper flowers. Pictured above: Olga Tsoudis and Veronica Pena, Program Coordinator, Unlimited Potential.
Pictured at left: Mothers wearing their beautiful handmade flowers.
To learn more about Unlimited Potential, click here.
Phoenix Pride 2012
Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW chapter members and friends joined the Pride community Saturday, April 21, 2012, for the 16th Annual Phoenix Pride Parade. This annual parade is part of a weekend of camaraderie and celebration.
Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas: employment, health services, housing, public accommodations, child custody and military policies. NOW is committed to educational efforts that challenge homophobia and promote positive images in the media. NOW asserts the right of lesbians to live their lives with dignity and security, and the right of same-sex marriage.
This year our chapter members distributed male condoms, female condoms and dental dams that had been donated to us by the Az. Dept. of Health. Also in our baskets of goodies were Mardi gras beads in rainbow colors and vibrant colored boas. We also distributed membership coupons to the cheering crowds.
This year's Phoenix Pride parade celebrated a first: Mesa police officers and MCSO deputies, in uniform, participated in the parade. The officers and deputies were the first ever to march in uniform and represent their departments. Social change was made on Saturday, April 21st, 2012.
Great thanks to all who joined us in this 100 degree heat. We'll see you again next year.
Equal Pay Day: Tuesday April 17th, 2012
It is the year 2012 and the average women’s earnings in the U.S. is 77% of what a man earns in a year! This means that today’s hard-working women needed to work 600 hours in 2012 to equal a man’s 2011 average salary.
What does this mean in real money? If he earns $10,000, then she makes $7,700! If he earns $50,000, then she makes $38,500. Moreover, if he makes an average salary of $100,000 a year, she makes $77,000.
Women have only gained 13 cents toward pay equity with men in the last 30 years. At this rate, it will take another 60 years before we achieve pay equity.
Had enough?
Chapter members of Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW converged on our Arizona representatives to demand our elected officials address the wage gap. We presented them with a 77% cake. We paid full price for our cakes, but we only delivered 77%. We strongly requested that our representatives support the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.E. 1519/S. 797). This act will go a long way towards eliminating discrimination in pay. Among other things, this act will protect women from retaliation for disclosing or asking about their wages. To learn more about the Paycheck Fairness Act, click here:
While we were meeting with our representatives, we also asked their support for the STOP Act (HB 3435). This act addresses sexual assault in the military. According to surveys, almost 1/3 of women in the service will experience rape or sexual assault and almost 90% of women experience sexual harassment. This act will create an autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office that is staffed by both military and civilian personnel and will provide victims safety and security. Moreover, it will create a new method of reporting than having the report go through the Chain of Command (CoC). To read more about the STOP act click here:
Olga Tsoudis and Dianne Post delivered their cake to Rep. Ed Pastor. Virginia Haulfaire, Daphne Thompson and Robert Hardy delivered their 77% cake to Rep. Dan Quale. Karen Kondej, Karen Bravo, and Janet Tillitson took their cake to Rep. David Schweikert.
Birth Control is Our Right!
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012, members of Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW, SunCities/West Valley NOW, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and alarmed women’s rights supporters from across the state of Arizona gathered on the Capitol lawn to demand that our elected legislators defeat House Bill 2625.
This controversial bill, Sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, would have allowed employers and insurance companies to deny women employees contraception coverage for religious reasons. The bill would have permitted employers to cover contraception prescribed for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy or cause an abortion. However, if these employees objected to contraception for the purpose of birth control, they could deny coverage.
Would you believe this is 2012?
This bill is supported aggressively by both the Arizona Catholic Conference and the Center for Arizona Policy, a religious advocacy group.
On this same day, this bill was defeated in the Senate: 17-13. The uproar nationwide caused moderate Republicans to vote no, much to the surprise of Rep. Lesko and Sen. Nancy Barto R-Phoenix. They had counted the votes and believed they would succeed.
The battle is not over. Rep. Lesko has indicated that she intends to re-introduce the bill before the legislative session is over.
We will be ready!
March 8, 2012 Protest at Trent Franks Glendale Office!
What did Arizona Congressman Trent Franks do for his Arizona constituents in the month of January 2012?
Well, Franks was busy limiting the reproductive rights for the women of Washington D. C. The bill he introduced in congress on January 23, 2012, would dictate when D.C. women could terminate a pregnancy. Congressman Franks introduced “The District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.” This restrictive bill would ban abortions in the nation’s Capitol of fetuses that are 20 weeks or older, because, according to Franks, that is when the fetus begins to feel pain.
Congressman Franks would like to ban abortion throughout the U.S., but he is thwarted by the 1973 Supreme Court decision: Roe V. Wade. However, the U. S. Constitution gives Congress authority over the unrepresentative residents of Washington D.C. These citizens neither elect their congressional representatives nor can they hold the congressional usurpers accountable.
Members of Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW, SunCities/West Valley NOW, and D.C. Vote, a Washington D.C. advocacy group that opposes congressional actions on local issues, rallied and protested at the Glendale office of Trent Franks and demanded that he focus his attention on Arizona citizens, and not D. C. citizens who have no vote in Congress.
Take Action on Prison Reform!
At our last chapter meeting on Wednesday, January 12 we discussed prison reform and supporting the work of Representative Cecil Ash.
We have attached a letter (PDF) about prison reform for the State of Arizona that we would like you to take action on. You are welcome to check off the areas of prison reform that you most support or you can support all of them! Several items are very important: Ending shackling of pregnant women giving birth and Stopping the arrest of juveniles for prostitution - they are victims. There is space for you to add other prison reform issues that are important to you.
Instructions are on the second page of the attachment. You can print and mail or print, scan and e-mail. If you have any questions, contact Karen Kondej or Olga Tsoudis.
Let's make some important changes in 2012!!
Teen Talk by Carissa Cunningham
The chess club was the only club/sport/activity that my school was actually winning. Ironically however, there were no girls on the team. At first I hadn’t given it much thought. I figured that the other girls just weren’t interested in chess. While I was certainly interested in chess, I had absolutely no desire to have to try to fit in with a bunch of guys myself without any other girls!
In Her Shoes - October 30, 2011
Raising Domestic Violence Awareness
"After attending the role-playing event, In Her Shoes, I will never again think or ask the question, Why doesn't she just leave? The character I was assigned was fortunate. She escaped from her nightmare with a few band-aids and a new job. She did not end up dead. But it was not necessarily because she made better choices. Sometimes the difference between escaping whole and death involves luck and timing. I will never again be arrogant enough to believe that I'd have all the answers to a battered woman's problems or feel qualified to make choices for her." Denise DeSio
One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Escaping from a domestic violence situation is complicated and frequently fatal. "In Her Shoes" is an interactive program that allows participants to simulate the real-life experiences of battered women navigating their flight to safety. Will they stay with a relative? Talk with the clergy? Temporarily reside in a shelter if beds are available? Those victims that relented and returned to their batterer received a band-aid (or several) during the program. Alternatively, some participants opted for a petition for an order of protection!
All of our guests attending “In Her Shoes” were offered a Petition for an Order of Protection from the deleterious conditions that define the status of women in contemporary society. These petitions are replicas of authentic Orders of Protection and should be completed and mailed to respective AZ legislators. To get your copy, click here: Order Of Protection (PDF).
In Her Shoes was co-sponsored by Phoenix/Scottsdale NOW and UMOM New Day Centers, the largest homeless shelters for families in Arizona. Doreen Nicholas, winner of the Saguaro Lifetime Achievement Award from ACADV for her twenty-five years of helping domestic violence victims, directed the afternoon program and facilitated the discussion that followed.
"I was surprised that this event introduced us to real situations in an engaging way that really did put us in someone else's predicament. I'm really glad I didn't pass up the opportunity, and hope it will be offered to more people in the future. Thanks, you all. Great job!" Judy Whitehouse
Pictured: Doreen Nicholas
More photos from October 30, 2011 will be posted shortly. Press Release: The Arizona Republic (PDF)
Equality Day 2011!
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Sun Up Brewing Company & Brewhouse - The Brewer's Den Annex
322 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ - 6:30 to 9:00 PM
Phoenix/Scottsdale "NOW-Style" Social Networking!
Celebrating the 91st Anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
More photos to come...
AZ NOW thanks