AFY_Will's Amplify Diary

An Apology, But Not A Reversal, From the Susan G. Komen Foundation

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:58:00 -0500

Moments ago, the Susan G. Komen Foundation issued a formal apology for their recent decision to discontinue more than $600,000 in annual funding for cancer screenings and prevention services at Planned Parenthood. After an unrelenting outcry from the general public and grassroots activists across the country, the Komen Foundation found itself facing a nearly unprecedented public relations nightmare.

In its press release, the Komen Foundation has promised that only “criminal” investigations will disqualify potential grantees, not political ones. The original criteria (written in late 2011, possibly for the exclusive purpose of ending Planned Parenthood funding) disqualified Planned Parenthood from receiving Komen Foundation funds since it is the target of a political “investigation” [read: “witchhunt”] led by Rep. Cliff Stearns. (What that means for Komen’s $7.5 million grant to Penn State remains to be seen, given the criminal and legal issues for which they are under investigation.)

The Komen Foundation’s statement says that it “will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.” And that’s where we hit the real problem. From the beginning, the Foundation has been clear that no current grants will be affected. As such, this is NOT a reversal of any kind.

Planned Parenthood will remain “eligible” for future grants, but the Komen Foundation has made no commitment to continue funding or to preserve its relationship with Planned Parenthood in years to come.

After all, when Komen Foundation founder and president Nancy Brinkler appeared on MSNBC earlier this week she said the decision to discontinue funding had nothing to do with the Congressional investigation. Instead, she argued that the Foundation was refocusing its efforts away from breast cancer prevention education and towards "metrics" and "direct service" grants.. Over the past five years, Komen Foundation funding has enabled Planned Parenthood to provide more than 170,000 breast cancer screenings, and they have provided 6,400 mammogram referrals – that this doesn't qualify as "direct service" would surely come as a surprise to the thousands of low-income and young women whose lives have been saved by these services.

So the question remains: Which of the Komen Foundation’s many reasons to sever ties to Planned Parenthood was really behind this decision? Was it a Congressional witchhunt? Or was it new grantmaking priorities?

Or, as we’ve known all along, is this really about abortion? Komen’s blatantly political decision this week followed years of pressure from anti-abortion activists, asking women – primarily low-income and uninsured women, women of color, and young women – to pay for the Komen Foundation’s cowardice with their lives. (In fact, this decision was made over the objections of the scientific staff at the Komen Foundation; their top public health official, Mollie Williams, immediately resigned in protest.)

In fact, the Komen Foundation has also announced that it will stop funding any and all breast cancer research related to stem cells, it is abundantly clear that the Foundation’s decision-making has become infused with politics, placing far-right ideology over science and saving women’s lives. Today’s apology and accompanying PR spin hasn’t changed that at all.

Whether the Komen Foundation’s statement dos in fact signal a reversal of its policy towards Planned Parenthood remains to be seen. It is entirely possible that they intend to fund Planned Parenthood cancer screening services in the future, and we hope they do. It is equally possible that this is simply a public relations move designed to diffuse a lucrative brand from spiraling out of control – and the Komen Foundation will quietly reject future grant proposals from Planned Parenthood once they are out of the media spotlight.

The true lesson this week is the power of grassroots activism – both online and offline – to force a major corporate entity to be accountable for its own actions. This is an enormous victory – for Planned Parenthood, for the movement as a whole, and most of all for advocates like you. This will not be the last time action and anger will be harnessed to protect the sexual and reproductive health of women and young people in America, but it is a striking reminder of how powerfully effective our collective voices can be.

Election Roundup: GREAT Night for Progressives

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:54:00 -0500

With last night's election results in, we have some incredibly good news. As Sarah Audelo, Advocates' Senior Manager of Domestic Policy, summarized in an email to staff late last night:

To: AFY Staff - DC
Subject: GREAT night for progressives!

Mississippi personhood amendment-FAILS
Anti-union bill in Ohio-FAILS
Russell Pearce in Arizona (wrote SB 1070)-RECALLED
Election day voter registration in Maine-RESTORED

AND Lee Storrow-NC CAMI alum won a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council!

Granted we didn't win everything...but these are huge victories!

Sarah

Sarah is completely right - so let's take a quick look at these key results from last night's elections.

Initiative 26 in Mississippi

DEFEATED 58% to 42%

Initiative 26 would have amended the Mississippi to redefine when human life begins. The text of the proposed amendment reads: “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” Initiative 26 was certainly intended to ban abortion and (apparently) human cloning - and to set up a direct challenge to overturn Roe v. Wade. Instead, the wording of the amendment - and the incredibly complicated and unpredictable nature of reproduction itself - meant that it would certainly outlaw emergency contraception and many forms of birth control. It would have made numerous fertility treatments illegal and would potentially criminalize miscarriages.

As late as Monday, polling showed Initiative 26 passing - barely - with 45% in favor, 44% opposed, and 11% undecided. Early on, many pundits viewed this fight as unwinnable - but an incredibly dedicated No on 26 grassroots campaign and eventual efforts by nearly all of the major reproductive rights organizations and a broad coalition of allies pulled off an historic upset. If "personhood" tactics can't even win in Mississippi, maybe there's hope after all.

But then again 40 members of Congress - along with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney - have said they would support a similar amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This fight is going to be around for a long, long time.

Further reading: Amanda Marcotte has a great piece up looking at where this hidden support for reproductive rights is coming from.

Issue 2 in Ohio

DEFEATED

The race has been called, but final margin won't be known until vote count is complete.

In March, Ohio passed a controversial law that directly attacked workers' rights to collective bargaining and banned strikes for public workers. Yesterday, with the defeat of Issue 2, that bill was repealed by the people of Ohio. From DailyKos:

Unions poured immense resources into this, knowing it was do or die, that a win wouldn't turn around declining union membership and historically high anti-worker political power, but that a loss would cement those things and quite possibly help cost President Obama and Sen. Sherrod Brown the state of Ohio in 2012. And unions were facing off against massive right-wing spending, the full scope of which we may never really know, and a roster of dirty tricks.

We won. Unions won, working people won, the progressive movement won, Democratic prospects in Ohio in 2012 won. It's worth a celebration. It's worth honoring the tenacity with which the good guys fought this awful bill. It's worth looking at the snowplow driver or the city engineer down the street from you and remembering that they're not the enemy and that their fight is your fight. And it's worth as many reminders as it takes to get the pundits to realize the significance of this vote when they're assessing what went down in the 2011 elections. Then, as always, we get ready for the next fight.

Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce

RECALLED

Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce - the fiercely anti-immigrant legislator responsible for Arizona's infamous SB 1070 legislation made history again last night. He is now the first legislator in his state's history to lose a recall election.

Opponents gathered more than 10,000 signatures to place the recall election on the ballot, and Pearce's stance on immigration was the centerpiece of the campaign. Pearce, who is a conservative Mormon, lost to conservative Mormon Jerry Lewis. Both men are Republicans with similar views on nearly all other issues - except, it seems, the human dignity of Arizona's immigrant population.

Last night, Arizona voters taught Sen. Pearce that intolerance and bigotry do have consequences.

Question 1 in Maine

PASSED 60% to 40%

The Maine state legislature was at the forefront of a new trend of voter disenfranchisement laws aimed at making it harder (or impossible) to vote. For forty years, Maine has allowed same-day voter registration - a practice that greatly reduces barriers to civic participation. During the campaign, ads attacked students, spread homophobia, and attempted to mislead Maine residents - but in the end democracy prevailed.

Some seriously stellar grassroots organizing has laid the foundaiton for continued efforts to engage young people and new voters as Maine heads into the 2012 election cycle.

And one more for good measure...

Lee Storrow

Last night, Lee Storrow became the youngest member of the Chapel Hill, NC, Town Council. Lee is 22 years old and an alumni of Advocates's Youth Activist Network, where he worked with Teen Health Now and the Adolescent Pregnancy Precention Campaign of North Carolina.

After out-fundraising most of the competition and running a stellar campaign focused on sustainability, transportation, and growth in Chapel Hill, Storrow was elected to one of four open seats on the Chapeil Hill Town Council. From a recent profile in the Daily Tar Heel:

Meet Lee Storrow: Unlike the other candidates in the Chapel Hill Town Council election, Storrow is a young UNC graduate, and he’s gay.

But he’d prefer that you engage him on actual policy issues (sustainability, transportation and growth). If you bring it up, he identifies his age as an asset, and he contends that his sexuality is irrelevant.

And he’ll tell you that he’s proud that we live in a town where he can run without that holding him back.

Storrow is running indeed — and take him seriously.

In fact, last night brought numerous successes for openly LGBT candidates all across the country. For a full round-up, head over to Towleroad...

Disclaimer Time!

Advocates for Youth is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. We do not endorse candidates for office or support political parties.

We do believe strongly in the democratic process and support the rights of all people - particularly young people - to vote. So a big thank you to everyone who voted yesterday and helped make this morning's great news a reality.

Lee Storrow's win is a perfect reminder that it's never to soon to consider running for office yourself. People will tell you you're too young. Prove them wrong.

Young activists are already shaping the future of this country - but just imagine what would be possible with young people serving on every school board or city council in America. Every generation changes the world. It's our turn.

Our Champions: Rep. Barbara Lee on the GOP's "War on Women's Health"

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:11:00 -0500

This morning, Rep. Barbara Lee published an op-ed that details the many facets of the Congressional Republicans' continuing "War on Women." Writing in The Hill, Rep. Lee focuses specifically at the increasingly numerous and potentially devastating attacks on women's health, insurance coverage, and access to medical care.

The full article is worth reading, but we wanted to share two of it's many highlights.

The so-called “Protect Life Act,” which passed the House...would radically undo settled law on abortion on multiple fronts. First, much to my dismay, the federal funding of abortion already is prohibited under the Hyde Amendment. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act prohibits the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. For House Republicans, this is not enough.

While H.R. 358 has no chance of becoming law, it is part of a coordinated, nationwide plot to strip women of basic, constitutionally guaranteed rights, and undermine critical services provided by healthcare reform.

The "Protect Life Act" has come to be known as the "Let Women Die Act" — as it would permit hospitals and medical professionals to allow pregnant women to die from emergency medical conditions. This would be a terrifying change - and a literally deadly precident - from all current laws regarding medical care.

But even as Republicans in the House of Reporesentives push deceptively named bills that undermine women's health and rights, other elected officials are working hard to ensure that (even in Congress) progress is made towards a healthier future for young people in America.

If Republicans get their way, not only would access to family planning services be eliminated, they would cut evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention initiatives and redirect funds into failed “abstinence-only” programs. It is no surprise the United States still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world!

Rather than sidelining women, we must give young women and girls the right tools to be safe and healthy and prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place. This is why next month I will introduce legislation to expand comprehensive sex education at elementary and secondary schools and universities to ensure federal funds are spent on effective, age-appropriate, medically accurate programs.

Advocates for Youth is looking forward to sharing the details of Rep. Lee's new bill in the coming weeks — and, in the months and years ahead, continuing to working with all of you to help fight for a just and equitable future where everyone has access to the education, information, and medical care they need to live healthy, empowered lives.

If you feel like thanking Rep. Barbara Lee for her tireless leadership on this and so many other issues, I'm sure her office would appreciate the call. You can reach the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

With that, I want to give Rep. Lee the final word:

It is shameful that some are threatened by our hard-fought gains. And it is disgraceful that they are actively working to turn the clock back on women, on choice and on our access to healthcare. We must reject this dangerous agenda, and fight to stop this war on women.

Our Champions for Reproductive Health and Justice - Watch These Videos!

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:05:00 -0500

In the past few weeks Congress has waged unprecedented attacks against women's health, including eliminating all funding for the Title X family planning program, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, and Planned Parenthood. At the same time, the House has also drastically cut international family planning funds and swiftly moved legislation to further restrict access to abortion services. In the midst of all this, activists from across the country have stood firm and mobilized to fight back.

It's easy to get incredibly angry and exhausted with these constant attacks on women, youth, health, and rights. Today, we want to take a deep breath and remind ourselves on some of the amazing people who are fighting back. We hope you'll find these videos inspiring!

Rep. Jackie Speier shares her abortion story

After Rep. Chris Smith describes a second trimester abortion procedure on the floor of the House during debate to defund Planned Parenthood, Rep. Speier spoke up and said, "I'm one of those women he spoke about just now…for you to stand on this floor and suggest as you have that somehow this is a procedure that is welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is preposterous."

Rep. Gwen Moore speaks up for poor women

During the debate over defunding Planned Parenthood, Rep. Gwen Moore fought back after a member of Congress said he was going to vote to defund Planned Parenthood for black babies. Rep. Moore responded, "I am touched by the passion of the opposite to want to save black babies. I can tell you a lot about having black babies. I've had three of them." She then continued to rip apart policies that "treated poor children and women who have not had the benefit of Planned Parenthood with utter contempt."

Rep. Anthony Weiner throws down for women

During the hearing on the "No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act," not only does Rep. Weiner speak up against the Hyde Amendment, but he continues, "You can't vote for this thing and then say you're for less government regulation…this is the regulation of an individual woman in the room with her doctor on Congressman Pitts apparently." Watch the rest of the video…it gets even better.

Secretary Clinton defends international family planning and disease prevention

In a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Russ Carnahan asks Secretary of State Hillary Clinton how cuts to State Department programs — especially those for women's health — will affect our health and security here in the United States. Secretary Clinton said that "I'm worried that the House 2011 budget proposes more than one billion dollars in cuts to global health," before going on to demonstrate the devastating impact of these cuts.

Rep. Nita Lowey fights back against attacks on UNFPA

In response to attacks on the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) by Rep. Chris smith (R-NJ), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) stands up for the important work that UNFPA does on behalf of women and family planning around the globe. "I fervently believe that UNFPA is essential to achieving our global health goals," she said.

Pro-choice students mobilize for reproductive rights in New York City

100+ Students and staff from CLPP and Hampshire College mobilized to attend the Feb 26, 2011 rally in New York City in support of Title X funding and Planned Parenthood.

Students and staff challenged and broadened ideas around women's health and family planning and spoke with lots of folks at the rally. Amplify is thrilled to be the blogging partner for the 30th anniversary Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) Conference on April 8-10th, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom. These folks are awesome!

We certainly have some big hurdles ahead — and these legislative battles aren't going to be over anytime soon — but we do have champions. They are representatives on the Hill, they are members of the administration, and they are young people all over the country who are standing up and making their voices count.

From all of us here at Amplify, thank you for everything you're doing to stand up for women's rights, family planning (in the U.S. and abroad), sexual health, and reproductive justice. Hang in there — and know, even on the hard days, that we've got your back.

New GOP Hostage: End Family Planning in the U.S. or Shut Down the Government?

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:50:00 -0500

Republicans are looking to wipe out funding for Title X, a 40-year-old family planning program.

This was the lede in a Politico story posted late yesterday afternoon, "GOP targets family planning program." The new continuing resolution proposed by House Republicans would eliminate ALL current year funding for Title X family planning programs in the United States — a move that would devastate the nation's health care infrastructure and (conveniently for GOP ideologues) cripple Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the country.

With current funding for the federal government set to expire on March 4, we know there will be a showdown over the terms of passing a new continuing resolution.

We know that Planned Parenthood was in the crosshairs, as a bill introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) would make any organization that provides abortion services ineligible for Title X family planning funding.

But we didn't expect these issues to converge — so suddenly and so soon — with women and young people all across the country expected to pay the price.

The cut would be a hard hit against Planned Parenthood, which received $16.9 million of Title X funding in 2009. By law, the funds must be spent on health care such as contraceptives, pelvic exams, and safer-sex counseling, and cannot be spent on abortion services.

The cuts are part of the continuing resolution, a Republican spending proposal released Wednesday.

Started in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, Title X is the only source of federal funds dedicated solely to family planning and reproductive health. Some 5 million women and men received services through 4,500 community-based clinics in 2008, according to the Department of Health & Human Services.

The House could vote as early as next week to pass a new continuing resolution that would eliminate all Title X Family Planning funding. These cuts hardly even masquerade as a serious attempt at deficit reduction. On the other hand, these cuts reinforce the apparent top priority of House Republicans: using any and all opportunities to deny Americans access to health care.

This is the first undisguised admission that their ultimate goal — out in plain sight for all to see — is to eliminate the ability of all 309,000,000 Americans to access family planning services, including reproductive health care and birth control.

IF THIS WAS REALLY ABOUT THE DEFICIT:

For a budget deficit of $1.5 trillion, this $327 million cut amounts to 0.0218% The amount that directly funds Planned Parenthood comes out to a 0.001127% cut.

Not to mention that every $1 invested in Title X Family Planning saves $3.80 in later spending, mostly through Medicaid. In fact, the GOP proposal to cut $327 million in family planning dollars equates to a future increase of $1.25 BILLION for U.S. taxpayers. (Then again this analysis only comes from the Guttmacher Institute. In a world where CBO estimates are suddenly "opinion," budget analysis — no matter how reputable — no longer matters.)

IF THIS WAS REALLY ABOUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD

The amount that directly funds Planned Parenthood comes out to a 0.001127% cut. Plus, Rep. Mike Pence has already introduced legislation that would effectively defund Planned Parenthood by restricting Title X family planning funds to organizations that do not provide abortion services.

IF THIS WAS REALLY ABOUT ABORTION

$0. That's how much of the $327 million Title X Family Planning funds is currently used to pay for abortion-related services. Even looking at the services offered by Planned Parenthood — an organization that does provide abortion care, but does not use ANY federal funds to do so — it's clear that "family planning" provides many basic health care and preventative measures.

Source: Planned Parenthood 2008-9 annual report

Graphic via Jed Lewison's piece on the current video attacks against Planned Parenthood

97% of Planned Parenthood's services have nothing to do with abortion - and in fact many are dedicated to ensuring that women (and couples) have the information and health care they need to prevent unintended pregnancy in the first place. It is staggering that the Republican party — so publicly and vocally dedicated to "ending abortion" — is so militantly opposed to all that makes abortion less necessary.

Somehow, that isn't good enough for Republicans in the House. Instead, they are demanding that 5,000,000 people no longer have access to cancer screening. They don't deserve STD testing and treatment. They must not have access to contraception. We must not provide women's health services.

HOSTAGE TAKING IS THEIR ONLY STRATEGY

While Democrats have a shaky-at-best recent history on abortion rights, the fact remains that a Democratic Senate and President Obama in the White House will likely provide an effective firewall against direct legislative attacks on reproductive rights and women's health. As such, Rep. Pence's bill to exclude Planned Parenthood from Title X eligibility would likely founder in the Senate. (Not that we shouldn't be fighting at every opportunity to shore up Senate opposition to these measures and to ensure that Obama realizes that abortion rights are not a political bargaining chip to be traded away in his search for "bipartisanship.")

Which is exactly why the continuing resolution is such a dangerous - and dangerously effective — strategy. Along with the need to raise the debt ceiling, the need for a new continuing resolution to keep the federal government open and operating offers the GOP their best chance to hold the country hostage while they impose radical policies on the American people.

They're betting that President Obama and the Democratis Party are willing to sacrifice Title X funding (along with many other cuts to critical programs) in order to avoid shutting down the federal government when the continuing resolution expires. More specifically, they're betting that Democrats will be terrified of being blamed for a shutdown — even though it was the Republicans who held the nation hostage.

PICK UP THE PHONE - DIAL (202) 224-3121

That's the number for the House switchboard. Call it. Now.

If your representative is a Republican, they need to know that they are expected to deliver on job creation and economic issues — and that their constituents will not stand for ideological attacks to deny people access to family planning.

If your representative is a Democrat, tell them you expect them to stand up to GOP threats and to protect Title X funding. Make sure they know that caving is NOT an option.

Elected on promises of job creation and fiscal responsibility, House Republicans have instead used every opportunity to launch an all-out War on Women and use budget cutting as an excuse to gut programs that help our most vulnerable citizens. Once again the GOP's deficit hysteria has proven to be a cover for a radical social agenda - rather than any serious attempt at governing or fiscal responsibility.

VIDEO: "Boys Are Like Microwaves"

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:11:00 -0500

"Boys are like microwaves. Girls are like crockpots." More actual lessons about gender from actual abstinence-only-until-marriage programs...Your tax dollars at work!

You want references? Here you go:

The idea that gender behaviors are innate because girls and guys carry their books differently is used in both "WAIT (Why Am I Tempted)" and "Choosing the Best."
The things men and women need in a relationship, as listed here, comes from "WAIT."
The microwaves and crockpots quote comes from "WAIT."
The idea that girls need to dress modestly is from "Heritage Keepers" (girls have a responsibility to wear modest clothing that doesn't invite lustful thoughts), "Sex Respect" (a guy who wants to respect girls is distracted by sexy clothes and remembers her for one thing), and "Choosing the Best" (how do some people say NO with their words, but YES with their actions or clothing?).

Thanks again for all your help getting the word out about this series! Please take the time to post it and send it around!

SHARE.

Here's the direct YouTube link for Facebook and Twitter sharing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry42ZL3c0Z0

And if you'd prefer the bit.ly version, here you go: http://bit.ly/hoCik9

TAKE ACTION.

Tell Congress to finally end all funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Click here to contact Congress today.

Moment of Truth: DADT Repeal and the DREAM Act

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:07:00 -0500

by Sarah Audelo, Senior Manager of Domestic Policy, Advocates for Youth
and Lindasy McClusky, President, United States Student Association

As the Senate prepares to vote on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the passage of the DREAM Act, it would be wise for President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and their colleagues in both houses of Congress to take a moment and recognize the joint significance of these two pieces of legislation. Together, these two bills are a basic test of social justice for our elected leaders and for the country – and a political litmus test for the Millennial generation.

Over the past two years, young people have been at the forefront of grassroots activism in support of both of these bills. We see these issues as intersectional – much to the bewilderment of some of the national advocacy groups – and we refuse to “segment off” or abandon the fight for social justice.

Passing the DREAM Act and repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is the right thing to do. When a majority of Americans support both of these actions, it should not be a politically complicated decision to do so. Doing the right thing – morally and politically – shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Yet, in the coming days, the Senate and the White House may just manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. With Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress and on-the-record support for both the DREAM Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal from some Senate Republicans, this should be an easy win.

Certainly, Republicans in Congress deserve a large share of the blame. Their cynical insistence on knee-jerk opposition to nearly every piece of legislation is overshadowed only by the recent rise of transparent homophobia and racism in the halls of Washington. It is offensive when Congressmen proudly oppose the DREAM Act because it will hurt “non-minority citizens” or Senators claim to support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal but obediently vote against it “for process reasons.” It is nearly unforgivable that their Republican colleagues – many of whom have repeatedly promised their support for these bills – to allow this bigotry to go unchallenged. Far too many once-great Republican leaders have flip-flopped on basic human decency, without comment or consequence.

It’s equally disheartening that President Obama and members of Congress allow these scare tactics to go unchallenged or – worse still – dignify them as insurmountable political obstacles. The country is getting far too accustomed to this administration compromising its principles and ceding political victories without much of a fight.

The success or failure of these two initiatives will be critical, but not simply because they were among the president’s core campaign promises or because they are among the top priorities of the “professional left.” In fact, while many national advocacy organizations were advising patience on gay issues or pushing for comprehensive immigration reform, both agendas languished. Comprehensive immigration reform never gained momentum, while the Employment Non-Descrimination Act and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act were virtually ignored. The simple fact that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and the DREAM Act remain possible is a testament to the tenacity and effectiveness of a new generation of activists willing to work outside the system and who refuse to let their priorities be pushed aside.

Young people have already proven their ability to be a powerful force at the ballot box. In the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections, we saw young voter participation in a steady rise. The most recent presidential campaign was filled with articles attributing Obama’s victories (in both primaries and the general election) to the enthusiasm, support, and tireless work of young people across the country.

In the 2010 midterm election, we saw youth turnout slip back to a level slightly below the 2006 midterms. Pundits were eager to blame Democratic losses on young people, but they were looking at the issue from the wrong angle. Young people stayed home not because they somehow failed Democrats. Rather, young people stayed home because Democrats failed them. Beyond a few key policy wins – including expanding access to college education and the ability to stay on your family’s health insurance plan through age 25 – President Obama and this Congress have failed to deliver on many core campaign promises to young people. Moreover, candidates this year simply did not adequately engage young voters and ask for their votes.

The past two years have proven that “politics as usual” continue to dominate Washington, DC. None of us was expecting a magical new era of constant cooperation, but we were expecting leaders – from both parties – who would fight for the principles on which they had campaigned. Either our elected officials are willing to stand up and fight for justice and equality, or they are not. You can’t have it both ways.

In the meantime, we have each other to look to. We look to the DREAMers who marched from Miami to DC for a pathway to citizenship. We look to the young men and women who have risked discharge or chained themselves to the White House fence to force action on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. We have given every possible argument from compassion to economics to move forward. We have organized online and rallied in the streets. We are calling the capitol switchboard by the thousands each and every day.

Our generation will continue to fight for the passage of the DREAM Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” but we are watching your actions closely, hoping for leadership and wary of more empty rhetoric. Justice and equality can no longer wait. As 2010 comes to an end, Congress is fighting hard to approve a few, final pieces of legislation. President Obama is working to secure the votes he needs from both sides of the aisle. We are watching to see whether you will fight or cave. And, make no mistake, we will remember.

If, in the final days of the 111th Congress, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and the DREAM Act both fail, this will be a catalyzing moment for Millennial disenchantment with Congress and the Obama administration. We all know that progress will become infinitely more difficult over the next two years.

We will keep fighting, but it may be impossible to trust that you are willing to do the same.

VIDEO: "Rainbow Bear's Wedding"

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:45:00 -0500

Today, Rainbow Bear learned about marriage — and his class put on a fake wedding. More actual lessons from actual abstinence-only-until-marriage programs...Your tax dollars at work!

You want references? Here you go:

The exercise in which students write down what they are looking for in an opposite-sex partner is from "Choosing the Best."
The mock wedding and imagining your wedding ceremony comes from "WAIT (Why Am I Tempted)."
Both "Choosing the Best" and "WAIT" include lessons teaching about the unhealthy and harmful effects of unmarried cohabitation.
"WAIT" also directs students to imagine every detail of their wedding day, although the specific direction to imagine your beautiful bride comes from "Heritage Keepers."

Next week, we'll be finishing off this series before the holidays — but we'll definitely be back in 2011 with some exciting new projects! Again, everyone here at Amplify and Advocates for Youth is incredibly grateful for your help and enthusiasm getting the word out about this series!

Rainbow Bear's story a sad one — but it needs to be told. Make sure you take the time to post it and send it around!

SHARE.

Here's the direct YouTube link for Facebook and Twitter sharing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk_kiNZJYfY

And if you'd prefer the bit.ly version, here you go: http://bit.ly/hWuhXp

TAKE ACTION.

Tell Congress to finally end all funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Click here to contact Congress today.

VIDEO: "Girls shouldn't have ideas."

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:20:00 -0500

If girls have ideas, they will scare boys away and end up alone. I just learned this from an abstinence-only-until-marriage program called "Choosing the Best."

According to the program's own website, "Choosing the Best" has reached more than 3 million young people in the United States. The federal goverment currently spends more than $900,000 to teach this program in schools.

This is Part Two in our weekly video series highlighting actual lessons from actual abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. With your help, Part One ("Drink the Spit") has been viewed more than 40,000 times on YouTube in the past week -- and the count is still rising. Thousands of people have seen the video on Facebook and it has been featured on dozens of websites and blogs.

And just this morning, a national radio show on DC station Hot 99.5 did a full ten minute segment about this video -- including a call-in discussion with listeners about the outrageous content and harmful messages of abstinence-only programs.

We can't thank you enough for all your help spreading the word about this series! We hope you enjoy this new installment just as much. As always, feel free to share it far and wide...

SHARE.

Here's the direct YouTube link for Facebook and Twitter sharing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmwJvgKTTjw

And if you'd prefer the bit.ly version, here you go: http://bit.ly/dQAyIi

TAKE ACTION.

Tell Congress to finally end all funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Click here to contact Congress today.

A Prayer for AIDS

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:02:00 -0500

Editor's Note: This piece was written by playwright Tony Kushner for the National Day of Prayer for AIDS in 1994. Over the years, it's a piece I return to often and - on this World AIDS Day - I wanted to share it here on Amplify. Read it all. It's worth it.

Dearly Beloved, Let us pray.

God:

A cure would be nice. Rid those infected by this insatiable unappeasable murderer of its lethal presence. Reconstitute the shattered, restore to health all those whose bodies, beleaguered, have betrayed them, whose defenses have permitted entrance to illnesses formerly at home only in cattle, in swine and in birds. Return to the cattle, the swine and the birds the intestinal parasite, the invader of lungs, the eye-blinder, the brain-devourer, the detacher of retinas. Rid even the cattle and birds of these terrors; heal the whole world. Now. Now. Now. Now.

Grant us an end that is not fatal. Protect: the injection drug user, the baby with AIDS, the sex worker, the woman whose lover was infected, the gay man whose lover was infected; protect the infected lover, protect the casual contact, the one-night stand, the pickup, the put-down, protect the fools who don’t protect themselves, who don’t protect others: YOU protect them. The misguided, too and the misinformed, the ambivalent about living, show them life, not death; the kid who thinks that immortality is a part of the numinous glory of sex. Who didn’t believe this, once, discovering sex? Everyone did. Protect this kid, let this kid learn otherwise, and live past the learning; protect all kids, make them wiser but, until wise, make them immortal.
[More]

VIDEO: "Drink the spit."

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:57:00 -0500

Editor's Note: Here at Amplify, we're suckers for sharing internet videos. Sadly, we can't always justify posting our favorite videos of napping kittens, adorable puppies, and - well - even more kittens. But when the good folks at XtraNormal launched a video creation tool that lets you script and animate your own magical web videos, we figured it was time to jump on board and use internet videos in the name of good!

Starting today, we're launching a new web video series exploring the actual content of actual abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Check back soon for new installments!

What are you waiting for? Click play.

Then please post and share this as widely as possible. We could use all the help we can get as we try to spread the word!

WATCH.

In case you missed it, here's that link again: http://bit.ly/fUui6P

SHARE.

Post this far and wide. Share it on Facebook. Tweet it.

And don't foget, you can always go dig up your old password to Friendster or MySpace and post it there too!

TAKE ACTION.

Tell Congress to finally end all funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Click here to contact Congress today.

EDIT: We're getting great feedback about the video, including some requests to cite the sources of the material described above. So, here you go:

The “Rose with no petals” exercise is used in the Choosing the Best curricula series, a popular abstinence-only program which has recently received funding under President Obama’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI). According to Choosing the Best’s own website, over 3 million young people have completed the Choosing the Best program.

The “Chewed up candy” exercise is from AC Green’s Game Plan, used in many public schools in Illinois.

The “You’re the Toothbrush” exercise, from Texas public schools, is described in the abstinence-only documentary “The Education of Shelby Knox.”

The “Spit in a cup” is from “Why Am I Tempted,” a program which has also recently received funding under the new TPPI for replication among students in Florida.

Bait-and-Switch Politics: Welcome to the 112th Congress

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:17:00 -0500

Welcome to the morning after.

With too much caffeine and too little sleep, it seems that everyone is struggling to make sense of last night’s election results. Depending on who’s doing the talking, Republican’s won 60 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives because President Obama and the Democratic Congress spent the last two years adopting extreme liberal policies that overreached their mandate for “change.” Or they simply weren’t liberal enough (at all?) and spent too much time compromising their own principles on a quixotic quest for bipartisanship. Last night was a resounding victory for Tea Party Republicans – who picked up 39 seats in Congress – yet it also proved that the American people resoundingly reject Tea Party ideology, leaving three extra Senate seats in Democratic hands. The media, politicians, pundits and seemingly all of The Internets are busily writing history this morning, and we’ll just have to wait and see which interpretation wins out.

According to CNN exit polls:

Sixty-two percent of voters named the economy as their most important issue this year. Health care ranked a distant second, at 19 percent, with illegal immigration and Afghanistan trailing at 8 and 7 percent.

This seems right on track with what we’ve seen from other news outlets. To the vast majority of voters, this election was about the economy and – to a lesser degree – about health care reform. It may have been about President Obama and possibly still about President Bush. Practically the only argument that no one* is making this morning is that last night’s election was a national referendum on social issues**.

Let me, then, step into that lonely void.

Yesterday’s election marks a dramatic return to the culture wars.

The 112th Congress will be dominated by fights over social issues, from abortion to family planning to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Two years from now, we will look back on November 2, 2010, as the day that far-right Republicans used a wave of economic frustration to usher in the most anti-choice, anti-sex ed, anti-LGBT, anti-family planning, anti-contraception Congress in our nation’s history.

And this “bait and switch” will take most of the country entirely by surprise.

SEX EDUCATION

There is no doubt that we have made tremendous progress over the last few years when it comes to federal policy guiding sex education funding. We’ve seen the elimination of 2/3 of the federal funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that censor critical, life-saving information about condoms and birth control. We’ve also witnessed the created of a new $180 million evidence-based federal program for teen pregnancy prevention and sex education.

Both of these achievements will likely be at risk under Speaker Boehner’s new Republican majority. Funding for comprehensive sex education is too obvious – and too symbolic – of a political target to avoid a fight. And a return to abstinence-only-until-marriage ideology would be a win for a conservative base that expects immediate, tangible results.

Too briefly, sanity has prevailed in Washington, with politicians finally denying funding to virginity pledge programs, purity balls, and abstinence clowns. Science-driven sex education policy isn’t going down without a fight, but it’s going to be high on the list of visible reversals to symbolically “overturn the Obama agenda.”

ABORTION

The Republican Party platform has long included a provision calling for a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw abortion and apply full “personhood” protections that would begin at conception.

At least 78 Republican House and Senate candidates would – if given the opportunity – vote to make abortion illegal under ALL circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest. [Once we have the chance to fully tally how many of these candidates won last night, we’ll be sure to post an update.] And at least one – Senator elect (and Tea Party candidate) Pat Toomey – would jail doctors for performing abortion procedures.

Most attempts to further restrict access to abortion will continue at the state level, although some new members of Congress are shockingly vocal about their support for extreme measures to eliminate a woman’s decision about when and if to become a mother. But, the anti-abortion movement is eager to capitalize on their success in Congress with the Stupak and Nelson amendments in health care reform. Their strategy will almost certainly avoid federal legislation to overtly restrict abortion access. Rather, they will continue to create strategic media firestorms designed to force Democrats to go beyond the letter of the law in restricting abortion coverage and access.

This strategy has already proved to be a winning one with the Obama administration: Despite health care reform overtly banning the use of federal funds to pay for abortion care or insurance coverage for abortion procedure, under vocal pressure from anti-abortion advocates, President Obama issued an executive order unnecessarily reaffirming this position. The tactic succeeded again when the National Right to Life Committee claimed that abortions would be paid for with federal funds when the High Risk Insurance Pools first went into effect. The Department of Health and Human services responded by banning all abortion coverage in the High Risk Pools, except in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk. Upon examination, the ACLU characterized the move as a “voluntary” restriction on women’s access to abortion.

Will the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats continue to impose further voluntary restrictions on abortion access in the United States? The National Right to Life Committee and their allies certainly know that they have a winning strategy on their hands.

Time will tell, but it certainly seems that Democrats can simply be bullied into giving away women’s rights.

FAMILY PLANNING

Domestically, expect to see the anti-abortion forced-capitulation strategy above repeated with a new target: birth control.

The Family Research Council has already announced this as a new priority:

Is Fertility a "Pre-existing Condition?"

Planned Parenthood certainly thinks so. That's why the country's biggest abortion provider is pushing to include free birth control as part of the new health care law. Making a change in the law would not only add billions more to the tab, but it would force Americans to pay for something they shouldn't. Birth control is not only optional, it's objectionable to some people. Despite what Planned Parenthood may believe, fertility (like pregnancy) isn't a disease. It shouldn't be placed in the same category as other basic types of medical care. FRC Action has actively lobbied against the possibility of making abortion a preventive service for women and will continue to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen.
Currently, Title X family planning funding recipients are able to use funds to provide free or discounted birth control, and the 340B Drug Pricing Program makes birth control options affordable at campus health centers and at health clinics around the country.

The same political framework that has been used to ban federal funding for and restrict access to legal abortion care – “Some people find this morally objectionable, therefore we can’t let any federal tax dollars pay for this!” – will invariably be used to attack access to and subsidies for birth control in the coming months and years.

Turning our attention to U.S. foreign policy and foreign aid, we can also expect Representative Chris Smith (NJ) and his compatriots to lead an full-on attack against international family planning and abortion access – even though complications from pregnancy, including childbirth and unsafe abortion, is the leading cause of death for young women ages 15-17 in low and middle income countries.

ANTI-BULLYING LEGISLATION

In light of a tragic series of teen suicides related to anti-LGBT bullying and our culture’s pervasive homophobia, we should be able to expect the Student Non-Discrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act to be top Congressional priorities and to pass with broad (if not unanimous) bipartisan support.

We have witnessed an incredible groundswell of outrage and compassion over the past weeks and months, as millions of people from across the country have come together to speak out on behalf of LGBT young people and to take a stand against bullying in all forms.

However, the intemperate rhetoric of some religious conservatives attempting to denigrate these efforts as attempts to “promote the homosexual agenda” we can expect to see the new majority delay – or simply block – these critical pieces of legislation.

Some context:

Montana Big Sky Tea Party leader Tim Ravndal joked about murdering gays on Facebook, even asking for a copy of “that printed Wyoming instruction manual” – since Wyoming’s proud history includes the slaughter of Matthew Shepard. Ravndal was eventually fired for his remarks, but he is now the head of a new group – Lewis and Clark’s Conservative Tea Party.

Arkansas school board member Clint McCance posted: “Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide.” After a media firestorm, McCance resigned and apologized for his remarks.

The American Family Association’s Bryan Fisher recently remarked that “If we want to see fewer students commit suicide, we want fewer homosexual students.”

These kind of comments have become commonplace within the dialogue of the Tea Party and the “family values” conservative alliance. To our knowledge, no members of Congress have vocally opposed protections for LGBT students – but you can bet that there would be hell to pay (to some minds, literally) for acknowledging that LGBT young people have a right to exist, much less that they might somehow deserve to live without fear of harassment or physical violence.

Just a reminder that nearly 9 in 10 LGBT youth experience harassment in schools. More than 1 in 4 were physically harassed or assaulted in the past year, and nearly two-thirds reported feeling unsafe in school environments. According to research conducted by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), “students attending schools with an anti-bullying policy that included protections based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression heard fewer homophobic remarks, experienced lower levels of victimization related to their sexual orientation, were more likely to report that staff intervened when hearing homophobic remarks and were more likely to report incidents of harassment and assault to school staff than students at schools with a general policy or no policy.”

Congress has a responsibility to pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act without delay. Whether they will do so – or if student safety will be held hostage by far-right ideology – remains to be seen.

It is dismayingly likely that the 112th Congress will see ideology again (and again and again) trump science and human rights. The new Republican majority was able to capitalize on an electoral wave of voter unease with the status quo. Their promises of job creation and economic recovery will certainly continue throughout the next two years – as spending freezes, budget cuts to social programs, tax cuts, and deregulation will dominate the discourse.

There is also clear evidence that the ideological caucus within the Republican Party – not limited to Tea Party members, but certainly bolstered by their newfound presence – will be busy from the outset promoting an anti-abortion, anti-sex ed anti-family planning, anti-LGBT agenda.

The pundits and experts may eventually write off this election as just another historic check on one-party rule during a rough economy. But voters are in for a frightening surprise: the 112th Congress comes with a silent bait-and-switch social agenda.

Let’s look back at that CNN exit polling:

Sixty-two percent of voters named the economy as their most important issue this year. Health care ranked a distant second, at 19 percent, with illegal immigration and Afghanistan trailing at 8 and 7 percent.

96% of voters named something other than social issues as their top priority. I’m sadly certain that many among the new Republican majority would disagree.

I want to give the last word to Adam Brandon, communications director for FreedomWorks, the conservative group that has funded and organized much of the Tea Party’s activities during this election cycle.

"The Tea Party is done with street protests," he says. "We're done, that's it. Now we've got Congress." Now comes the policymaking.

For those who say the Tea Party has no legislative ideas, Brandon has three words: "Here it comes."

* It turns out that Jodi Jacobson is thinking along similar lines over at RHRealityCheck. At least we're in good company!

** There were state and local fights over cultural and social issues, to be sure. Amendment 62 in Colorado – which would grant “personhood” and legal rights “to every human being from the beginning of biological development,” i.e. from conception – failed by a 3 to 1 margin. California managed to defend it’s landmark global warming law at the same time that state’s voters rejected legalizing marijuana. And three of Iowa’s Supreme Court Justices, all of whom ruled on behalf of marriage equality for same-sex couples, were voted out of office as a result of a massive out-of-state campaign by the National Organization for Marriage.

Greater Than AIDS: Deciding Moments

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:07:00 -0500

Editor's Note: We wanted to pass along this awesome update from our friends at the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a proud partner of Greater Than AIDS, a national movement that brings together some of the country’s largest media companies and other corporate partners, private foundations, local health departments, and AIDS service organizations. Through a national media campaign and targeted community outreach, Greater Than AIDS aims to increase knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS and confront the stigma surrounding the disease, with a particular emphasis on reaching Black Americans.

This month, Greater Than AIDS launches the next phase of its national media campaign, called Deciding Moments. Drawn from real-life stories of people from across the country, including individuals living with HIV, the campaign highlights everyday choices we can make to change the course of this disease – from getting tested, to using protection, to correcting a piece of misinformation, to keeping up with one’s treatment regimen. You can hear more from the inspiring individuals featured in the campaign, in their own words, at:

www.greaterthan.org/decidingmoments
[More]

As we prepare to vote, Uganda moves closer to slaughter.

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:11:00 -0500

With the 2010 election season at a necessary fever pitch before we head to the polls on Tuesday, it's going to be nearly impossible for this story to get the attention it so desperately needs — but here it goes.

It has been a full year since David Bahati first introduced his "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" in Uganda's parliament. This legislation would impose the death penalty on sexually active HIV-positive LGBT citizens and would also impose life imprisonment for other LGBT Ugandans who are found to be having sex. Over the past year, Rachel Maddow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and President Barack Obama have all spoken out against this proposal, now known simply as Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill.

New developments in the past weeks have made it terrifyingly clear that the lives of gay and lesbian Ugandans are already at risk — even without the formal passage of the "Kill the Gays" Bill in parliament.

Last week a Ugandan newspaper published a list of the "Top 100 Homosexuals," which included the full names, pictures, and addresses of LGBT Ugandans. The headline accompanying the article was simple and to the point. It read: "Hang them."

When this story first broke, we consulted with colleagues in the international human rights arena. We decided not to launch an action at that time, concerned that any outside efforts might increase the danger for those whose identities had been exposed.

However, subsequent events — and an emerging call for immediate U.S. intervention to offer visas to those who have been outed and targeted for violence — have made it clear that now is the time to take action.

Since the list was released, there have been a number of personal attacks and property damage towards some of the listed individuals. Then, two days ago, Bahati told CNN that he remains confident that the bill would pass — and that it will happen "soon." Bahati added, "Every single day of my life now I am still pushing that it passes." This bill is an example of the blatant homophobia Ugandans face everyday in their homeland.

I know that all of us are already too busy over the next few days. With the midterm elections looming here in the U.S., we're already exhausted. There is already too much to do.

But with the lives of at least 100 LGBT Ugandans hanging in the balance, we cannot afford to wait. The U.S. State Department can — and must — offer immediate visas to those who have been named and outed.

As one of our contacts in put it recently: "such a campaign would help manage one of the worst effects of the publication: forced migration."

We have an obligation to intervene on behalf of our LGBT brothers and sisters. Their lives may literally depend on it.

As a country, we have repeatedly put pressure on Uganda to drop their homophobic bill, but this is no longer a policy debate. Individual lives are suddenly at risk and we must offer every single one of the individuals listed in that newspaper immediate refugee status and a visa to enter the United States.

F*cking Sluts! Does Yes Mean Yes Forever?

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:45:00 -0500

This is going to have to be short since I'm about to get on a plane, but I'm too angry NOT to write this. I feel too nauseous. I am too ashamed of my country and the culture we live in.

Apparently, a Yale University fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon decided to induct a new class of pledges with the following chant:

No means yes!
Yes means anal!
No means yes!
Yes means anal!
No means yes!
Yes means anal!
No means yes!
Yes means anal!
...
Fucking sluts!

I don't even know where to start. Maybe this is just one more example of our culture's deeply ingrained misogyny. It's certainly not the first time fraternity brothers have shown insanely poor judgment — and in the era of YouTube, that poor judgment often ends up on display for all too see. In fact, DKE president Jordan Forney has already issued a public apology.

But this goes far beyond just a chant at a Yale frat house.

The problem isn't that a group of young men at yelled something stupid, over and over agian. The problem is that I'm no longer sure we're shocked by people who turn rape and sexual assault into some kind of a joke. It's embarassing for those involved, sure. But the sentiment they expressed is shockingly — and terrifyingly — mainstream.

I ran across the Yale story right after reading a post by Digy quoting conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly talking about how it is impossible for a married woman to be raped by her husband:

"I think that when you get married you have consented to sex. That's what marriage is all about, I don't know if maybe these girls missed sex ed. That doesn't mean the husband can beat you up, we have plenty of laws against assault and battery. If there is any violence or mistreatment that can be dealt with by criminal prosecution, by divorce or in various ways. When it gets down to calling it rape though, it isn't rape, it's a he said-she said where it's just too easy to lie about it"

Because a woman consents to marriage — and, by doing so consents to a sexual relationship with her husband - apparently she can NEVER say no again. It's nice of Schlafly to acknowledge that violence and mistreatment are still unacceptable — but, even by separating them out as separate categories, she frames the conversation in a way that minimizes sexual assault. Rape, Schlafley implies, is neither violent nor mistreatment. It's just something that women have coming to them. It's in the job description to endure and survive.

Reading these stories back to back got me thinking. Our culture doesn't assume that all women deserve to be raped all the time. After all, we're still pretty obsessed with the preservation of female virginity - especially among young women. America's abstinence-only-until-marriage culture is still deeply ingrained, even if the programs that promote this ideology are finally begining to crumble.

I worry, though, that we've taken the Virgin/Whore dichotomy a step too far... Have we hit a place where any sexually active woman - or any woman who has somehow failed to live up to our bizarre (and bizarrely sexualized) standards of sexual "purity" - is simply a lost cause? She loses her agency. She forfeits her ability to say no — ever again.

Whether an assault is committed by a partner, by a spouse, or by a stranger, rape is a crime. Whether the assailant or the victim is a man or a woman, sexual assault is NOT up for debate. I can't believe that we have already trivialized rape to the point that this is actually a debatable issue.

But, with cultural attitudes like this, is it any wonder that so many sexual assaults go unreported?

1 in 3 women will be raped in her lifetime.

I've heard that statistic a lot, but I don't know if I ever really let it hit home. 1 in 3. When was the last time you thought about the reality of that? Seriously. Look around the room. Are there three women nearby? Which one of those women is or will be an assault survivor? Think about this the next time you walk down the street, the next time you're hanging out with a group of friends, the next time you're around the dinner table with your family. Really look. How many more women will have to suffer before we finally say THIS HAS TO STOP.

I'm sitting in an airport typing as fast as I can. They're starting to board my flight, and there are more than a hundred people in line already. But now, as I look around, I can only wonder... How many people here have been affected by sexual assault? How many will be someday? How many of their sisters or friends or daughters or mothers? And what can we do to stop it?

What can I do?

A few months ago, someone organized an event on Facebook called "National Punch A Slut Day." Literally thousands of people RSVPd that they would take part, possibly tens of thousands. (I don't remember exactly — and the event is no longer accessible because the date has passed.)

I was offended at the time, but now — in hindsight — I am simply horrified. Because that's how it starts.

One little game. They play kissing tag on the play ground and pin a girl down even though she's screaming "no." It's recess. They kids are only 6 years old. It's all just good clean fun.

One little Facebook joke. It's wasn't even a real event, right? No one would ever actually punch someone. Although she'd probably deserve it if they did, since she's a slut and all.

One little chant. "No means yes. Yes means anal. Fucking sluts!" But it's fine. Some college boys just drank a little too much. They were having fun. And, after all, they're sorry...

One little assumption. If you're married, consent automatically last forever...As long as your husband isn't violent, you have no right to say no. Ever. Rape isn't violent anyway.

We keep revising the definition of rape in our culture. We tell ourselves that this time, it's just a joke. We didn't mean it. It was an innocent mistake.

But someday we have to face the question — and I beg you to join me in starting this conversation today — when will we draw the line? Because before too long, if a woman EVER consents to sex (and maybe even if she doesn't) then she deserves whatever's coming to her...For the rest of her life.

She's only a slut, after all.

And yes will mean yes forever.