President Biden, in his first 1-1/2 weeks in office has issued a number of Executive Orders (EO's) that touch directly on women's rights, including one revoking the Global Gag Rule and one reinstating birth control w/out a co-pay to the Affordable Care Act. Generally these EO's have been seen by feminists as positive steps--except for one that has provoked push-back from a number of feminist organizations. The EO in question is the "Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation," which is being seen by a number of feminist groups as being in conflict with the 'sex-based rights of women'.

Last week, the Women's Liberation Front, put out a press release that was carried on the AP newswire entitled "Biden Executive Order on Gender Identity Will Eviscerate Women's Rights"; the group Feminists in Struggle (FIST) issued a similar statement and The Women's Human Rights Campaign started a letter-writing campaign in protest of this EO. A demonstration at the White House is also in the works. While mainstream media routinely label such statements as coming from "The Right", the groups mentioned above all consider themselves to be left of center, and, in the case of FIST, are strongly identified with the Left.

In the first half of this program we will interview Ann Menasche, a lifelong Socialist, Lesbian/Gay Rights activist and Civil Rights Attorney, and a founder of FIST (see below for Ann's full political bio). We'll discuss why her group is speaking out against the Biden Executive Order and its "parent" piece of legislation: "The Equality Act".

We'll discuss the campaign by FIST for a new legal framework that would help to resolve what is being called, in the media, a "clash of rights," by adding amendments to The Equality Act. Known as "The Feminist Amendments to the Equality Act (FAEA)." This new framework would create three separate categories of protection: for those discriminated against because of sex (women), for those discriiminated against because of sexual orientation (lesbian, gay) and those discriminated against because of gender non-conformity (including those identifying as transgender)--replacing the present  lumping these groups together under the 1964 Civil Rights Act language of "discrimination on the basis of sex." We'll look at how this would work and why FIST has taken a strong stand on the defense of women's sex based rights as well as why a new group: "Coalition for Feminist Amendments to the Equality Act" (CoFA) has recently formed and is now part of this campaign.

We'll also hear from Ann about what amounts to a prohibition against public debate on issues of gender theory and sex based rights--and why she feels that censoring free speech on these critical issues benefits no one.

In the second part of the show we will honor Black History Month (February) on this, the first day of the month, by playing excerpts from a Joy of Resistance-produced WBAI premium entitled "Black Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Movment." You will hear activist-historians Professor Carol Giardina and Maretta Short, (President Emerita of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Organization for Women) discuss the contributions of great women Civil Rights leaders including: Daisy Bates, Gloria Richardson, Diane Nash, Ella Baker and Joanne Robinson--along with a discussion of why the word "Leader" is reserved for men.

The program will also include our Feminist News Roundup and topical music.

Political autobiography of Ann Menasche

I am a life long socialist, and radical lesbian feminist. I spent many decades working  in coalitions  organizing anti war and abortion rights demonstrations. Also I am a long time  Green Party member who ran for California candidate for Secretary of State in 2010. I was active in what was referred to at that time as the Lesbian and gay rights movement, since the time of Harvey Milk, and was a leader of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality during the fight to repeal prop 8 in California. I am a founding member of Feminists in Struggle (FIST) in 2019, a grass roots multi issue radical feminist organization. I have had a long career working as a civil rights lawyer championing the rights of homeless people, people with disabilities, people of color and others experiencing poverty, police abuse, discrimination and injustice.