This week at Gender Justice: Growing our team and more news

August 20, 2022

Dear Friend,

It has been a full summer and we have a lot ahead of us in our work to advance gender equity. And before we do, it’s time for our team to rest and recharge! Gender Justice will be closed from August 22 – September 5, 2022. You can still keep up with our latest work on our website and social media – and we look forward to connecting after the break!

Before we go, keep reading for the latest news from our team.

Letters of Support for Andrea Anderson

Last week, we asked you to write letters of support to our client, Andrea Anderson. We had just received the difficult news that Aitkin County failed to protect her and other Minnesotans against sex discrimination. A jury found that a Minnesota pharmacy did not discriminate against Andrea when their pharmacist refused to fill her emergency contraception prescription. Gender Justice believes the pharmacy’s actions constitute illegal sex discrimination and will appeal the decision to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

We have received over 35 of your letters of support to Andrea! Thank you for supporting her during such a challenging time. You can still send a note to Andrea!

Gender Justice in the News

This week, Gender Justice Legal Director Jess Braverman was profiled by Minnesota Lawyer about challenging gender-based discrimination in their work, Jess’s legal and educational background, and personal likes/dislikes.

In the profile, Jess says this about our work: “The clients we work with are brave, taking situations where they’re mistreated and might be powerless, and despite all the obstacles to being a plaintiff, how hard it is, how vulnerable you have to make yourself, they still do it.”

Protecting LGBTQ Students in Minnesota

Recently, Advocacy Director Erin Maye Quade reached out to the Becker School Board on behalf of Gender Justice regarding Policy 471, which aims to bar “political indoctrination” and “the teaching of inherently divisive concepts.” This is a veiled attempt to censor LGBTQ students’ speech and expression.

As we wrote to the board, we are concerned and disappointed that the Becker School Board is once again promoting anti-LGBTQ policies. This policy would violate students’ First Amendment rights, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and Title IX. We urge the board to reject proposed Policy 471. Our advocacy team will continue to monitor the policy discussions and stand up for LGBTQ students across the state.

Gender Justice is growing – join our team!

With the increased urgency around all of the issues we work on, our team is growing to meet this moment.

We are hiring passionate team members for the following key roles:

Please spread the word or consider applying yourself! Inquires can be directed to [email protected]

Thank you for reading!
–The Gender Justice Team