Florida Feminist - April 2023 Issue


	View in browser

The FL Feminist

April 2023

On Feminism

Women's rights afire

Spark of equality shines bright

United, we will soar

- Written by Artificial Intelligence

President's Column

Dear Members and Friends,

This month has been terrible with the bills the legislature is passing. They seem to have lost their minds. They are giving the fascist DeSantis everything he wants. I have been to Tally three times with many other members to make FL NOW visible in resistance.

Kat Duesterhaus has done so much to form the #OccupyTally coalition and plan the communications and the overall plan. She is a wonder. It is exhausting to drive to Tally just to see the GOP super majority ignore public comment and ignore debate on these bills. However, we can never give up. This is only the next step in our opposition. I am heartened that so many of you are engaging with #OccupyTally. Decisions are being made now on how we go forward in FL. We will be announcing them in the Reproductive Rights Plenary on Saturday, May 20, at the State Conference.

Good news is that we have our annual state conference May 19, 20, 21. It is important to be there. West Volusia NOW is sponsoring the Conference at The Florida Hotel in Orlando. We are planning an action on Friday afternoon if enough people are there—make signs at 1p or 2p and leave for action at 2:30p.

We have speakers for the member and friend reception Friday evening. The socializing will be great too. Saturday, we have a number of great speakers and workshops. We have a speaker on Sunday then FL NOW business and resolutions.

Amy Weintraub with Anna Eskamani and Planned Parenthood will share a big announcement with us and our next steps. Carlos Guillermo Smith will speak via zoom. Rabbi Silver will join us for lunch on Saturday. And more interesting speakers. You will have a hard time choosing among the workshops we will have.

Have you registered? REGISTER NOW! Registering now versus the last minute makes it easier for us to plan. We need WOKE WOMEN to meet, to rejuvenate, to move forward. I hope to see you there.

We need ads and donations for the Conference Program Book. We won’t have the candidate ads like we did right before the 2022 election. The ads really pay for the program. Please buy an ad or donate. Contact Judi Marraccini at judi.marraccini@gmail.com.

Diane Lebedeff, is very busy working on bylaw changes for the National Conference. I hope the National Conference is better than last year. I am going. Are you? It is June 30, July 1, and 2 in Virginia. Please consider giving scholarships to your young members/interns to attend from paying registration fee to air and hotel.

Suzanne Southard and Judi Marraccini are working on membership continuously. I am sorry that we haven’t been able to get all the fixes we need from National.

By the way, FL NOW and Greater Orlando NOW could not get by without interns. We give a $400 scholarship to interns for a semester of part time work. They are so much more adept at social media and making web updates plus expand our bandwidth and reach. I have a job description for a social media/web intern if you want to pursue getting an intern. Just email me dcdeland@att.net.

I really hope to see you at the annual Conference in Orlando. Please do get us some ads from the Chapter and from businesses that cover FL.

FL NOW 2023 Annual Conference, 05/19, 05/20, 05/21 (Draft)

Friday, May 19th

2pm Action being planned

6-8pm Cocktail Party with Speakers

Saturday, May 20

8am - Coffee with President in FLNOW Suite

9:30am - Opening Plenary

9:45am - Reproductive Rights Plenary

11:30am - Talking to Folks on the Right

12:00pm - Lunch Speaker / Rabbi Barry Speaker

1:30pm - 4:30pm - Issue Workshops

6:00pm -Surprise FLNOW Fun

8pm - FLNOW Party

Sunday, May 21

9:30am - Sunday Plenary / FLNOW Business

Moving Forward

Occupy Tally - April Action

5/19 - 5/21 FLNOW State Conference / Orlando
6/30 - 7/2 National NOW Conference / Arlington, Virginia

In this issue

2023 Feminist Calendar
FLNOW Book Club April and May /June Picks
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Earth Day
#Occupy Tally
And More

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Sexual assault survivors often face disbelief and blame when they disclose their abuse. This is why End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI) created by Start By Believing (SBB), a global campaign challenging each of us to do better. In the 10 years since SBB was founded, hundreds of communities have launched campaigns, 8 states have issued formal proclamations, and thousands of individuals have taken the personal pledge to Start By Believing when someone comes to them for help. FLNOW's Kat Duesterhaus can train you to act as a Start By Believing facillitator with your local Sexual Assault Response Team. Our goal is to help all Florida law enforcement agencies complete the Start By Believing training and take the pledge.

Happy Earth Day!

Each year, April 22 marks the anniversary of Earth Day, which began in 1970. Feminists have been at the center of the fight to promote conservational efforts.

Ecofeminism is about examining how the exploitation of women of women and the exploitation of the environment are linked.

Ideas to combine your feminism with your love for the planet:

Eco-friendly beauty products: Tarte, Alba, Burt's Bees, The Body Shop
Clothing labels: Mayamiko, Krotchet Kids
Use a menstrual cup: Diva Cup can be found online
Eating local food grown and sourced near your home
Educate yourself : Netflix: Food, Inc, or Gasland (about fracking), suggested book: This Changes Everything by Naomi Klien

FLNOW Board Members

President: Debbie Deland

Vice President: Arlene Ustin

Secretary: Diane Lebedeff

Treasurer: Suzanne Southard

Membership Director: Judi Marraccini

Legislative Director: Linda Miklowitz

Communications Director: Kat Duesterhaus

April Book Club Pick

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Published in serialized form in the United States in 1851 -52 and in book form in 1852. An abolitionist novel, it achieved wide popularity, particularly among white readers in the North, by vividly dramatizing the experience of slavery.

(summary from the "The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica")

May and June Book Club Pick

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years.

(Because it is a lengthly book, for May, read through page 249, and for June read to the end.)

2023 Feminist Planning Calendar

January

29 Hollywood Pride

February

Black History Month, 4 Pride/DeLand, 11 Pride/Ft. Lauderdale, 18 Pride/Tallahassee

March

Women's History Month, 8 International Women's Day, 10 National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 15 Average Woman Equal Pay Day

April

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), 5 Start By Believing Day, 22 Earth Day

2023 Equal Pay Days

Average Woman 03/15, AAPI Women 5/15, LGBTQIA+ 6/15, Black Women 9/21, Native Women 11/30, Latina 12/8

Watch for Local Events to Table At!

May

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, 15 AAPI Women Equal Pay Day , 05/19 - 05/21 FLNOW State Conference/ Orlando FL

June

LGBTQA+Pride Month, 15 LGBTQIA Equal Pay Day, 23 Anniversary of Title IX, 06/30 - 07/02 NOW Conference, Arlington VA,

July Organize for Elections

August 26 Women's Equality Day

September. National Hispanic Heritage Month, 4 Labor Day, 21 Black Women Equal Pay Day

October

National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, 11 Day of the Girl, 19 Love Your Body

November Native American Heritage Month, 7 Election Day, 30 Native Women Equal Pay Day

December 8 Latina Equal Pay Day

Plan for Next Year!

Support FLNOW by Buying AD in Conference Book

This is your opportunity to showcase your chapter and business friends in the 2023 Conference Program Book.

Sarasota / Manatee is challenging FL chapters to put in an ad.

See below for more information. Please, please.....

Color is welcome! Send Judi Marraccini the artwork by May 1st.

Kat leading the fight in Tally

On 04/04/23 Kat made the following statements:

We’re here today because our rights are being violated. Not only our state constitutional rights to privacy, which includes our personal healthcare decisions, but as we were out against the near total abortion ban our 1^st Amendment rights were also violated.

I’m calling for the City of Tallahassee to drop all charges against our peaceful protesters.

This is our reality in the state of Florida under the leadership of Ron DeSantis and a super majority of Republican extremists.

Florida is no longer a free state, and every day we snowball closer to fascism.

I want the legislators trying to pass laws on my body know that we are watching and we are voting.

I want the world to know that Ron DeSantis is a threat to the freedom and democracy.

I want the people watching to know we are all ok and not one bit deterred. In fact, we are energized by your support and attention, and determined to keep going.

We must band together and fight back.

Join our resistance at @occupytally23

Stay woke Florida

Debbie Deland, President of FL NOW

“Floridians will not put up with this ban. It attacks all women and people who can get pregnant rights. Forcing pregnancy is un-American and overrides free will. It is scary to see a critical element of our democracy, the separation of church and state, blatantly ignored. Forcing one minority’s position on the majority is the beginning of autocracy. We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation of freedom of and from religion. We accept all religions, not just the Christian right. We have to recommit to the separation of church and state. Until we overturn this near-total abortion ban, many women will die, we will lose the majority of obstetricians in the state, we will make miscarriage a risk for prosecution, and we will force women into pregnancies they can’t afford or don’t want. Looking to 2024, we will take action to turn this around in FL. We will remain loud and never give up. We are in open rebellion against this racist and sexist ban. I never imagined that white men would take away women’s rights.”

Yesterday was sickening, and today’s news cuts even more profound. First, the Governor signed the near-total abortion ban. He did so at 11 pm while we were asleep, ignoring how cruel and unpopular this bill is with the public. DeSantis’s hubris knows no limit: not only has he presented like an autocrat for months, but he is also a coward.

Despite this bill being fast-tracked through the legislature and signed into law, we can have a pregnancy terminated up to 15 weeks.

ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL in Florida for up to 15 weeks. It will remain so until the Florida Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the 15-week ban, which is expected sometime this summer.

CLICK for FLNOW

We need you to take a few minutes a day to CLICK for FLNOW!
Did you know that FLNOW has a Facebook Page?

The link is: https://www.facebook.com/FLNOW

Please "like" our posts and repost them DAILY -- including sharing them to your chapter's FB page.

Thanks for the CLICK for FLNOW!

Key West Chapter Upcoming Events

April Events 2023

Key West

April 4 & 5 Sexual Assault Awareness Month. KWNOW has coordinated with Christina's Courage for awareness events and education. April 4 - 5:00 PM Proclamation at the Key West City Hall April 5th Tropic Cinema 6:00 PM film:

http://www.audrieanddaisy.com

Christine Depre, SART Project Manager Florida Council Against Sexual Violence Monroe County, will be present to discuss the film and be available for questions and support. She urges younger generations to attend. We will be tabling with several other local organizations for the event.

https://www.christinascourage.org

Another event will be tieing teal ribbons on the trees at Bayview Park, we will need volnteers for this as I get more specific information.

FLNOW Task Force Blurbs by Arlene Ustin

2023 is here! FLNOW needs your active support in the continuing fights against the unacceptable and outrageous assaults on our democratic values and rights.

Below are our FLNOW Task Forces. Please join us in making NOW gain ground in the social / political arenas and let's educate the public.

Reproductive Rights: Amy Weintraub Monthly zooms are held and we need NOW members to attend, especially since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. When organizations work in coalitions rather than in local advocacy, more effective actions can reverse this situation.

Constitutional Equality (ERA): Nancy Terreri - This Task Force is part of the National ERA Coalition and Fund for Women's Equality. The ERA wraps around every issue which impacts women with 280 members who will present resolutions in both chambers of the 118th US Congress. Help Nancy get the ERA into the US Constitution.

LGBTQIA+ Rights: Beck Andre - Does excellent work in coalition with other organizations, especially Compass Center, which is in Palm Beach County and has far reaching connections. Please join us in "Saying Gay"!

Freedom from Violence: Kat Duesterhaus & Beck Andre - Members of this Task Force engage local Sexual Response Teams to promote the responses that Start By Believing. Join us in making Florida safer for all people by advocating for survivors.

Families Against Court Travesties (FACTS): Natalie Andre & Sheila Jaffe - Serving women and some men for over 20 years who face horrible treatment in court. FACTS created Court Watch, which adds a vital public dimension to proceedings so that the demeanor and behavior of presiding judges and attorneys, which are frequently biased against the mother, can be raised to the level of fair hearings.

Florida National Organization for Women

You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a purchase from us.

Unsubscribe