Our Charter and Platform 2020 Kitchen Table Talks

Kitchen Table Topics - Equal Rights

Kitchen Table Talk Home > Equal Rights 

Democrats Abroad wants to know what issues matter to you as a Democrat living abroad. Your input can help shape DA’s 2020 Platform. Run a Kitchen Table Talk - information here - and make your voice heard! Topics on Equal Rights included below (scroll for the full list). Add your own through the Kitchen Table Talk New Topic form.  

Equal Rights Amendment

Do you support campaigns which encourage states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment? ?

BACKGROUND

  • The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly grant equal rights to women;
  • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution was first introduced in Congress in 1923, Congress passed the ERA in 1972 and, as required by the Constitution, sent it to the States for ratification;
  • Only 35 of the required 38 States ratified the amendment to the Constitution by the specified deadline;
  • Nevada ratified the amendment on March 21, 2017, and Illinois ratified the amendment on May 30, 2018, becoming the 36th and 37th state to do so;
  • Women’s rights, including but not limited to reproductive rights, are in jeopardy;
  • Women’s wages are less than 80% of men’s wages and “equal pay for equal work” lacks any form of legal protection;
  • A Constitutional amendment would make explicit that equal rights for women are guaranteed and protected by the law of the land.

REFERENCES

Transgender Ban in the Military

Do you reject President Trump’s discriminatory ban of transgender members in the Armed Forces??

BACKGROUND

  • Transgender service members have openly served in the military since 2016 and over 15,000 transgender people are serving in the military today; 
  • On July 26, 2017, President Trump announced via Twitter that the United States Government would reverse the existing policy of allowing transgender service members to serve openly in order to implement a ban on transgender people from serving in the Armed Forces; 
  • The Department of Defense has failed to provide evidence that the existing policy has impaired morale, unit readiness, or unit cohesion. 
  • All five military Chiefs of Staff have testified publicly that the existing policy has had no adverse effect on military readiness; 
  • On August 1, 2017, fifty-six retired generals and admirals released a statement affirming, “This proposed ban, if implemented, would cause significant disruptions, deprive the military of mission-critical talent, and compromise the integrity of transgender troops who would be forced to live a lie, as well as their non-transgender peers who would be forced to choose between reporting their comrades or disobeying policy” 
  • Gender dysphoria is not the result of a personal decision, but rather, is a medical condition which can result from biological differences present at birth;
  • The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and three former military Surgeons General each have affirmed the medical efficacy of transition-related care and have expressed opposition to President Trump’s discriminatory ban; 
  • A 2016 study by the RAND Corporation found that allowing transgender Americans to serve openly in the Armed Forces would “have minimal impact on readiness and health care costs” and “little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness or readiness”; 

REFERENCES