GENDER AND EQUAL RIGHTS Wilson 6B

SUFFRAGE  Senaca Falls Convention (1848)  Demonstrations  Organized movement  States in the west granted women the franchise  Nineteenth Amendment (1920)  No one denied vote based on gender  Little political difference  Large-scale female employment (WWII)

SUPREME COURT  Gender-based classifications (1970s)  Reasonableness standards  Prohibited  Age of adulthood  Height/weight employment requirements  Mandatory pregnancy leaves  Athletics  Retirement benefits  Allowed  Statutory rape  All-gender public schools  Widow property tax exemption  Military

SEXUAL HARASSMENT  Quid pro quo  Sexual favors required as a condition of work  Employers are strictly liable  Hostile environment  Setting in which ability to work is impaired  Employers liable if negligent  Court standard not clear  School and city examples

PRIVACY AND SEX  Police powers – state regulatory function  Abortion decided state by state  Zone of privacy  Not mentioned in Constitution  Inferred from Bill of Rights  Roe v. Wade  Demonstrations  Constitutional amendment  Hyde amendment  Webster  Casey Restrictions

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION  Equality of Results  Equality of Opportunity  Courts  Divided partisan issue  Bakke - No numerical quotas but race can be considered  Pena – race classification  Gratz – overturned “bonus points”  Grutter – upheld the “plus factor”

SOLUTIONS  Quotas  Compelling state interest  Correct patterns of discrimination  Preferences  Voluntary preferences easier to justify  Not likely to apply to persons who are laid off  Compensatory action  Public support  Similar to political culture  Support for individuals  Support for needy

GAYS AND THE CONSTITUTION  State decision  Bowers (1986) – upheld ban homosexual activity; protect family, marriage, procreation  Romer (1996) – struck down state amendment to make it illegal to protect persons based on sexual orientation  Lawrence (2003) – overturned law to ban sexual conduct between people of the same sex  Private groups still allowed to exclude homosexuals  Boy Scouts

DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE  DOMA (1996)  One man/one woman, not state has to recognize same-sex marriages from another state  MA Supreme Court (2003)  Ruled in favor of same-sex marriages  Debated in legislature  San Francisco (2006)  Mayor issued licenses against state law  State Supreme Court, Prop 8 (2008)

COMPARE AND CONTRAST  Discern between:  African American Civil Rights  Women’s Liberation  Immigration Policy  Gay Movement  Compare  Marriage/Civil Union  Fetus/Baby