A REVOLUTION


Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society and the state without discrimination or repression. 

Racial Equality

2020 has been our countries most tumultuous year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Since June there have been mass uprisings over racial injustice rarely seen since Dr. King’s leadership of the civil rights movement 60 years ago. King often said that riots are the language of the unheard. He empathized with those who rioted, although he never condoned violence.

Protestors spill out onto the streets, driven by fury. They march. They kneel. They sing. They cry. They pray. They light candles. They chant and shout, demanding voices, muffled behind masks. They block freeways and bridges and fill public squares. They lie their bodies onto hot asphalt, silently breathing for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

Eight minutes and 46 seconds, exactly how long it took to take the life of George Floyd. Floyd was a black man who died at the hands of a white police officer, who pressed his left knee on his neck. There have been many unjust African American deaths, Floyd’s death was the tipping point that unleashed one of the most explosive trials of American racism setting fourth mass protests.

Violence against African-Americans is not unfamiliar. You know their names: Trayvon Martin; Tamir Rice; Michael Brown; Philando Castile; Sandra Bland; and Eric Garner, who uttered the same anguished pleas as Mr. Floyd — “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” But never before have the cries carried such an impact. Across the country, Americans stand shoulder to shoulder in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Within 24 hours of Mr. Floyd’s death, demonstrations were organized in a half-dozen U.S. cities, with protesters chanting the names of black people subjected to police brutality. The number of places doubled. Then tripled. There was continued support as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across more than 2,000 cities and towns, their chants echoing the cries of movements past.

Demonstrators take part in a Black Lives Matter march along Colfax Avenue on June 7, 2020 in Denver. Denver Public Schools students organized the peaceful march in solidarity with the ongoing efforts around the country. The marchers gathered in Civic Center Park and marched along Colfax Avenue to the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in City Park.
Photo by Shelly Bradbury | The Denver Post

They protested in every single state and in Washington, D.C., with turnouts that ranged from dozens to the tens of thousands. From a town square in Montrose, Ga., to Times Square in New York. From the northern tip of Minnesota to Hanalei Pier in Hawaii. The demonstrators — black, brown, white, a mix of fed-up first-timers and veterans who had marched many times on those same streets — could not be stopped. 

Across the nation, shifts in thinking have already begun — generally there are far more people of good will than people of evil will, or people who harbor racist views. It’s just that, often, good people have been silent. The voices of citizens across the United States of America are joined by demonstrators in countries all over the world, standing in solidarity, raising their voice against the injustice and inhuman treatment against minorities. They will not be silent any longer.

Gender Equality

"Gender equality means that the different behaviors, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favored equally. It does not mean that women and men have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female". - United Nations – Gender Equality

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development. Moreover, it has been shown that empowering women spurs productivity and economic growth. In its simplest form, the Equal Rights Amendment promises that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” You can read the rest of the amendment here.

Gloria Steinem’s life has been dedicated to the cause of women’s rights. To underscore the point that all women, regardless of race or class, had a stake in this struggle, Steinem joined forces with activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes, a leading child-care advocate. Together, they embarked on a series of high-profile national speaking tours to bolster grassroots support for women’s issues in 1970. In the above studio portrait published in Esquire magazine in October 1971, Steinem and Hughes signal their solidarity with the raised-fist salute first popularized by members of the Black Power movement.

In 1972, Steinem and feminists such as Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and feminist Betty Friedan formed the National Women’s Political Caucus. It continues to support gender equality and to ensure the election of more pro-equality women to public office. Other organizations Steinem has co-founded in her vast career include the Women’s Action Alliance (1971), which promotes non-sexist, multi-racial children’s education; the Women’s Media Center (2004) to promote positive images of women in media; Voters for Choice (1977), a pro-choice political action committee; and the Ms. Foundation for Women. In the 1990s, she helped establish Take Our Daughters to Work Day, the first national effort to empower young girls to learn about career opportunities. 

RBG: Beyond Notorious

Ginsburg was quoted as saying, "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

During the 1970s, Ruth Bader Ginsburg also served as the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), for which she argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the U.S. Supreme Court. Here, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) shows homage to Jane Fonda's Cleveland arrest on November 3, 1970, while advocating for women's rights.
Image by Tony Rubino

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a lifelong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and equality for all. Ginsburg dedicated her career to ensuring that marginalized groups received justice and was known for tactfully dissenting in court.

She volunteered at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the 1970's, where she became director of the Women’s Rights Project. Ginsburg won five landmark cases on gender equality in the US Supreme Court, based on the protections of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. President Bill Clinton later appointed Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993, making her the second female justice to serve. 

Here is a list of five laws Ginsburg helped pass to achieve gender equality in the US.
 
1)  Employers cannot discriminate against employees based on gender or reproductive choices.
2)  State-funded schools must admit women.
3)  Women have the right to financial independence and equal benefits.
4)  Men are entitled to the same care-giving and Social Security rights as women.
5)  Juries must include women.

LGBTQ Equality

People around the world face violence and inequality—and sometimes torture, even execution—because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.

While employment discrimination against gender is prohibited, the DOJ recently disclosed that the Gender Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act provides no protection from discrimination while at work. This and other issues - such as hate crimes, marriage equality, and the right to enlist in the military - put LGBT rights at the forefront of the minds of many. 

In 2010, no states outlawed conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors, banned health insurers from excluding transgender-related coverage or offered gender neutral options on licenses and birth certificates. Ten years later, roughly 20 states have these protections in place. A landmark Supreme Court ruling sanctioning same-sex marriage in 2015 capped an evolution taking place in state legislatures and federal courts on LGTBQ relationships in the first half of the decade. In 2010, only 14 states and the district had some form of relationship recognition for same-sex couples. By 2020, marriage was the law of the land and included access to marriage-related parenting protections. 

Pope Francis Supports Same-Sex Civil Unions

Pope Francis has called for the recognition of civil union laws that would provide legal protection for same-sex couples. As part of this recognition, As part of this recognition, Pope Francis emphasized that gay and lesbian people are “children of God and have a right to a family,” and that “nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”

It was a sweeping victory for equal rights in the workplace.
Photo by Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

In the past, the Vatican has publicly opposed violence and discrimination against LGBT people, including the criminalization of same-sex activity. It has disappointed advocates seeking greater recognition of other LGBT rights, however, including opposition to state efforts to extend legal gender recognition to transgender people. The comments stop short of calling for marriage equality but are still likely to bolster movements seeking legal protections for same-sex couples, particularly in predominantly Catholic societies. In countries like Paraguay, Poland, and the Philippines, same-sex couples lack basic recognition and protection for their families under the law.

The Pope’s remarks may not immediately translate into stronger protections for LGBT people, but they offer a powerful reminder that LGBT families deserve respect and recognition at a time when that fact is too often ignored.

Despite progress over the past twenty years in the legal landscape and in the evolution of social opinions and attitudes related to an individual’s sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression. Nonetheless, members of the LGBTQ community still suffer harmful and blatant gender bias in all areas of public and private life, including housing, employment, opportunities in academic settings, in the ability to buy goods and services, and in the opportunities to participate meaningfully in our society's decision making processes.