Psych Lit wrote:

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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yes that was a cool story and one id not heard before. are you a history buff nesea?

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not so much a history buff as intensely fascinated by the stories related to the radical militants (women) that busted open the door for all of us  ... and the human side of the legislators and legislation that made it law.     

 

I went back and dug up an old article that I had posted around election time last year .. when lots of my friends were saying they weren't going to vote at all b/c they were so disillusioned by the dnc's dealings with Hillary.

Just one more example of the stories that intrigue me.

Iron Jawed Angels

A friend forwarded this, and I thought you also might find it eye-opening.

The message was inspired by an HBO film -- Iron Jawed Angels, with Hilary Swank playing Alice Paul.

It is the story of our Grandmothers and our Great-grandmothers, as they lived only 90 years ago. It was not until 1920 that women in the U.S. were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on November 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching , twisting and kicking the women.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food -- all of it colorless slop -- was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because -- why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied Women's History, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was -- with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use -- or don't use -- my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men : 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. 

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote Democratic, Republican or Independent party -- remember to vote.

History is being made

 

P.S. : The Alice Paul House is right here in Moorestown, NJ

nesea wrote:

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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Janet L. Duprey, a Republican assemblywoman, had voted against gay marriage in 2007, but spoke in favor of the bill on Tuesday. She said a lesbian couple on her block helped persuade her

By JEREMY W. PETERS

Published: May 12, 2009

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This reminds me of the story that took place with voting on the 19th Amendment, in what was probably the original war of the roses. In 1920 thirty five states had passed the amendment, with just one more needed to ratify. All eyes were on Tennessee. The first roll call brought in 48 for to 48 against. The second roll call was taken with the same results. On the third roll call the youngest member of the legislature, Harry Burn switched sides and gave them enough votes to pass.

When asked why he changed his position young Mr Burns said that in his breast pocket was a letter .... from his mother ....  telling him to do the right thing. 

I guess it took three votes to convince him that if he didn't do it, no one would. 
 

-- Edited by nesea on Friday 15th of May 2009 08:11:35 AM

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Couple of things about this photo:

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

1. Anyone else notice that the camera angle makes it look as though the speaker is "leaning to the left"? :)

2. Do they REALLY need those flags on all their individual workspaces there? I mean... couldn't they all agree that those who have a name tag in the New York legislature were from and supportive of the United States?

3. What's with the Irish flags?

 

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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N.Y. Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Janet L. Duprey, a Republican assemblywoman, had voted against gay marriage in 2007, but spoke in favor of the bill on Tuesday. She said a lesbian couple on her block helped persuade her

By JEREMY W. PETERS

Published: May 12, 2009

ALBANY The State Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday night that would make New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage a pivotal vote that shifts the debate to the State Senate, where gay rights advocates and conservative groups alike are redoubling their efforts.

In a sign of how opinion in Albany has shifted on the issue, several members of the Assembly who voted against the measure in 2007 voted in favor of it on Tuesday.

The final vote was 89 to 52, including the backing of five Republicans.

Supporters of the bill aggressively sought new votes, particularly from Assembly members whose districts lie within Senate districts where a senators vote is believed to be in play. As a matter of strategy, same-sex marriage advocates said that they hoped to use those votes as a way to leverage support from senators who are worried that supporting the measure could cost them politically.

The margin of victory and the balance of where the people come from who voted for this is broadening, said Daniel J. ODonnell, a Democratic assemblyman from the Upper West Side who led the effort in the Assembly to gain support for the bill. The state is demanding that we provide equality, and thats the message here.

As the Assembly prepared to vote on Tuesday, advocates on both sides of the issue were gearing up for campaigns to sway undecided senators.

Gay rights groups, led by the Empire State Pride Agenda, will begin the first phase of a statewide advertising campaign on Wednesday. The first advertisement is a 30-second television spot featuring a woman from Cicero, N.Y., just outside Syracuse. She explains that she would like her two daughters one who is a lesbian, one who is straight to be treated equally under the law. It will be broadcast in the Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo areas.

The campaigns organizers are planning more commercials in other cities across the state in the coming weeks, with an emphasis on areas where senators are believed to be on the fence.

This is about putting a face on the people who are affected by this, said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the pride agenda. Marriage equality should not be a political issue. It is too important; it affects too many people.

Conservative religious organizations were mobilizing as well. In the hours leading up to the Assembly vote, lobbyists for New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group that has sued the state for recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, were holding meetings with lawmakers.

Certainly we want to keep the pressure on, said the Rev. Jason J. McGuire, legislative director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms. Mr. McGuires organization is planning a rally in Albany for its supporters in June, and he added that he would continue meeting with senators in the hope of persuading them to vote against same-sex marriage.

We all understand both sides of the issue that this fight is going to continue in the State Senate, he said.

The Conservative Party is also applying pressure: it has threatened to strip its party affiliation and its ballot line from any politician who votes for same-sex marriage.

We cant look the other way, said Michael R. Long, the partys chairman, who added that he had informed the Republican leaders of the Senate and the Assembly of his threat to take away the Conservative ballot line which in some elections can mean the difference of thousands of votes from anyone who votes yes on the bill.

Were going to work as hard as we can in the next few weeks, he said. We intend to do everything we can possible with phone calls, memos, press releases, having our members call senators.

Despite the conservative pressure, two Republicans spoke on Tuesday about why they dropped their opposition to granting same-sex couples the right to marry. Three Democrats who voted no in 2007 switched their votes to yes.

Theres that little voice inside of you that tells you when youve done something right, and when youve done something wrong, said Fred W. Thiele Jr., a Republican who represents the Hamptons. That vote just never felt right to me. That little voice kept gnawing away at me.

Mr. Thieles district overlaps with the Senate district of Kenneth P. LaValle, whom gay rights advocates consider to be among the half-dozen or so Republicans open to a yes vote.

Assemblywoman Janet L. Duprey said a lesbian couple who live on her street helped change her mind.

They are asking only for equal protection under the law, said Ms. Duprey, a Republican whose district along the Canadian border in the North Country overlaps with the Senate district of Elizabeth Little, another Republican who gay rights supporters believe is within reach.

They deserve no less than to have the same rights and ability to share their love, Ms. Duprey added.

Bob Reilly, a Democratic assemblyman whose district includes parts of Saratoga and Albany Counties, apologized to colleagues for voting no in 2007 before voting yes on Tuesday.

Opponents of the bill condemned same-sex marriage as a moral outrage and an affront to religious institutions in New York. Some, like James N. Tedisco, a Republican whose district includes Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, drew comparisons to polygamy.

I think you can see the kind of slippery slope were going down here, he said. What I see here is individuals trying to change the definition of a longstanding institution called marriage to fit into their agenda.

Some supporters insisted the bill was, in fact, nothing earth-shattering.

We do nothing revolutionary or extraordinary today, said Richard L. Brodsky, a Democrat from Westchester County.

The electronic display in the Assembly chamber that listed the bill number and a brief description suggested as much. It said, Relates to individuals ability to marry.

More Articles in New York Region » A version of this article appeared in print on May 13, 2009, on page A24 of the New York edition.

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 I'm revitalized and abundantly hopeful. I was just about ready to postpone the "fight" for equality in pursuit of the fight against "complicated" relationships. I could still use some education in that area, but can now shift gears toward the greater good again. I'm still amazed that NY opted to ride coattails versus pave the road to evolving levels and pursuits of equality and happiness.  But, it's nothing to bytch about. The work and awareness is getting done. Kudos to the GOP's Duprey, for finally doing her job, listening and representing the constituents, her own lesbian neighbors.