Released on May 5, 2022

Statement by National NOW Vice President Bear Atwood 

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, honoring the histories of people from across the Asian continent and the islands of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia.  

The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC)—a group that promotes the interests of AAPI workers in the federal and D.C. governments, has selected the theme for this year’s AAPI Heritage Month: Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration. 

As FAPAC says in this statement, “Organizations that are led by leaders who have been supported and advanced through collaboration foster transparency. This transparency allows for a culture of openness and trust, which further fosters diversity and inclusion, a variety of opinions and a robust discussion of ideas and approaches, which are all the foundational traits of a thriving organization that is at the forefront of leading change.” 

NOW has long supported and promoted these principles of transparency, collaboration and inclusion, and we are proud to support AAPI Heritage Month.  We also support the work of the Stop AAPI Hate Coalition, which was launched in response to the spike in anti-Asian racism and violence that coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when AAPI people were physically harassed and murdered in cities across the U.S. 

NOW members can observe AAPI Heritage Month by supporting initiatives to raise awareness about hate crimes against the AAPI community, reporting incidents or acts of hate, and becoming more informed about what is happening, and why. 

For more resources, reports and information, including an online form to report an incident, visit Stop AAPI  Hate or follow  @StopAAPIHate . 

### 

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org. 

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,

Released on May 3, 2022

Statement by National NOW President Christian F. Nunes  

WASHINGTON, DC—By signing the new six-week abortion ban, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has proven, yet again, that misogyny and cruelty are his core values. Stitt and the right-wing extremists who control the state legislature, have advanced a dystopian vision for Oklahoma straight out of The Handmaid’s Tale, where women cannot make their own health care decisions or retain control over their bodily autonomy. 

These reprehensible forced-birth policies have nothing to do with women’s health.  They are about politicians seeking more power over women’s lives, their health, and their future. Oklahoma is taking a dangerous step today that other states will soon imitate—and they won’t stop until all abortion care is illegal—everywhere. 

NOW members are determined to keep fighting to ensure that every woman has access to abortion care—and to stop states like Oklahoma from endangering women’s lives, all for the sake of a hate-fueled brand of politics based on misogyny, fear, and lies. We won’t let them succeed.   

# # #  

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org. 

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,

Released on May 3, 2022

Statement by NOW President Christian F. Nunes 

WASHINGTON, DC–The leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion in the Mississippi abortion case confirms our worst fears are coming to pass.  While Justice Alito’s language may change in the final opinion, the outcome is clear—the Supreme Court is ready to strike down Roe v Wade. 

There will be no compromise, no mitigation in terms of how many weeks before an abortion is forbidden for women and pregnant persons.  The new ultra-conservative majority of Supreme Court justices, working in concert with right-wing extremists controlling state legislatures, have erased the Constitutional protection of reproductive healthcare. 

Abortion bans have nothing to do with protecting women’s health, and everything to do with the power politicians want to retain over women’s lives, their future, and their bodily autonomy.  The Supreme Court is leading the charge to create one set of laws for conservative states, with restrictions on abortion, voting rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, marriage equality and contraception, no matter how harmful, hateful, or dangerous. 

NOW members are outraged, energized, and ready to fight back.  The Supreme Court’s decision will jeopardize women’s lives—particularly the lives of young, Black, Latinas, Indigenous, and economically insecure women who are most at risk.  Now, it’s up to us to vote for women’s lives.   

We must get the Women’s Health Protection Act, which establishes a federal statutory right to access to abortion care, passed in Congress, and that means electing a Manchin-proof majority in the Senate and keeping control of the House.  What’s more, we must break turnout predictions in the fall elections and flip control of state legislatures that are held by narrow margins.   

We know that there’s a feminist majority of voters who can change the course of history in the next election.  This is our mission.  This is our time.   We need your collective voice and collective power so that we can defend Roe.  We will not fail. 

###

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org.

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,

Protest Anti-LGBTQIA+ Discrimination and Harassment

Released on April 21, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today we honor the Day of Silence, a national student-led demonstration to raise awareness for the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in schools. Organized by the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), students will take a day-long vow of silence to protest discrimination and engage in activism and advocacy. 

The Day of Silence was created in 1996 by a University of Virginia student named Maria Pulzetti, who felt that LGBTQIA+ students’ concerns were falling on deaf ears.  She organized the first Day of Silence on her campus during the university’s Pride Week, and the next year GLSEN, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ education networks in the country, took the event national, with more than 100 institutions participating.  Hundreds of thousands of students go through the school day without speaking, culminating in rallies and events where they Break the Silence with their own stories and shared experiences. 

This year, GLSEN is holding a virtual Break the Silence Instagram Live event with special guests, entertainment and speakers at 7:00 PM ET.  Follow @GLSEN to tune into the event, or you can get more information here. 

NOW supports the Day of Silence and other efforts to bring attention to the bullying, harassment, discrimination and other forms of victimization students face.  These attacks are on the rise, along with the politicization of anti-LGBTQIA+ activity by politicians, state legislatures and extremist groups.  More states are imitating Florida’s hateful “Don’t Say Gay” laws, with more students made to feel isolated, alone, and under attack. 

I encourage you to visit the GLSEN Day of Silence webpage and also a “zine” created by high school students including poems, artwork and stories written by LGBTQIA+ youth. 

NOW is proud to stand with LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies to break the silence and amplify the voices of those who are fighting so bravely for justice, fairness and human rights. 

# # # 

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org. 

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,