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Elizabeth Warren on Civil Rights

 

 


Build future for ALL our kids, including transgendered

[At one campaign event, I talked about] building a future for all our kids. A man in his 60s came over to me. He was thin, with the leathery skin of someone who had worked outside for many years. He wore a frayed Vietnam vet's cap. He didn't smile, and his voice was flat. I looked for clues--maybe a little hostile? I wasn't sure. "Yeah, you talk about building a future," he said. "But what about transgender?" Now he looked full-on angry.

Wow. That seemed to fall out of the sky. I felt the instinctive need to crouch. I said just as flatly: "We build a future for all our children. And that means transgender children. ALL our children--no exceptions."

He held my gaze for a moment and then said: "Damn right." He went on to explain that he had a grown son who was transgender. "In a million years you'll never know the special kind of hell he has gone though. I want somebody who fights and doesn't back off."

I relaxed. A future for all our kids, every one. THIS was a fight I was ready for.

Source: A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren, p.229 , Apr 22, 2014

Native American heritage from mother in Oklahoma territory

As a kid, I had learned about my Native American background the same way every kid learns about who they are: from family. I never questioned my family's stories or asked my parents for proof or documentation. What kid would?

My mother's family lived in Indian Territory but my mother was the baby in the family, and by the time she was born, Indian Territory had become part of the new state of Oklahoma. My mother and her family and her father's families both had Native American roots. Everyone on our mother's side--aunts, uncles, and grandparents--talked openly about their Native American ancestry.

Now, in the middle of a heated Senate campaign, Republicans insisted that all of that was a lie. They claimed I wasn't who I said I was; they said I had cheated to get where I'd gotten. Republicans also accused me of using my background to get ahead, but that simply wasn't true. It wasn't a question of whether I COULD have sought advantage--I just didn't.

Source: A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren, p.239-40 , Apr 22, 2014

We need a reliable vote for equal pay for equal work

As in their previous two debates, Warren cast Brown as an unreliable vote on women's issues, though she did so more crisply than before. In a direct appeal to women, she said that when Brown had the chance to vote for equal pay for equal work, he voted no; when he had the chance to vote for employers and insurers to pay for coverage for contraception, he voted no; when he had the chance to vote for a Supreme Court justice who supported abortion rights, he voted no. "The women of Massachusetts need a senator they can count on--not some of the time but all of the time," she said. Whether abortion remains legal, she said, "may hang in the balance."

Brown shot back that "I didn't vote for your boss," a reference to Justice Elena Kagan, who was dean of the Harvard Law School. He said Kagan didn't have the requisite judicial experience.

Source: N.Y. Times on 2012 Mass. Senate debates , Oct 11, 2012

Warren has fought for women throughout her career

For the past four years women and families have struggled while the economy tanked and jobs were lost. EMILY's List women are leading the way in providing real, concrete solutions for economic growth and putting Americans back to work.

Elizabeth Warren has always looked out for middle class families. Warren had the backs of middle class families when she fought tooth and nail to protect taxpayers through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She stood strong for working women and men when she worked to create and implement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before Warren's efforts, women were more often targeted in the subprime mortgage market. Women were more likely than men to get these unfair loans, but Warren's efforts ensured future protections for women and men. Warren has fought for women and working families throughout her career, and she will no doubt be their voice and champion in the U.S. Senate.

Source: Molly Kordas, EMILY's list endorsements , Jan 27, 2012

Repeal DOMA; repeal DADT; support ENDA

Warren spokesperson Kyle Sullivan says: "I can tell you from hearing Elizabeth talk about these issues that she supports marriage equality, supports repeal of DOMA, and agreed with repeal of DADT. She also supports ENDA and believes strongly that LGBT individuals should have their rights protected."
Source: 2012 Senate campaign website, elizabethwarren.com , Dec 10, 2011

Voted YES on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

Congressional Summary:
    Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) to add or expand definitions of several terms used in such Act, including :
  1. "culturally specific services" to mean community-based services that offer culturally relevant and linguistically specific services and resources to culturally specific communities;
  2. "personally identifying information" with respect to a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
  3. "underserved populations" as populations that face barriers in accessing and using victim services because of geographic location, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity; and
  4. "youth" to mean a person who is 11 to 24 years old.

Opponent's Argument for voting No (The Week; Huffington Post, and The Atlantic): House Republicans had objected to provisions in the Senate bill that extended VAWA's protections to lesbians, gays, immigrants, and Native Americans. For example, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) voted against the VAWA bill because it was a "politically–motivated, constitutionally-dubious Senate version bent on dividing women into categories by race, transgender politics and sexual preference." The objections can be grouped in two broadly ideological areas--that the law is an unnecessary overreach by the federal government, and that it represents a "feminist" attack on family values. The act's grants have encouraged states to implement "mandatory-arrest" policies, under which police responding to domestic-violence calls are required to make an arrest. These policies were intended to combat the too-common situation in which a victim is intimidated into recanting an abuse accusation. Critics also say VAWA has been subject to waste, fraud, and abuse because of insufficient oversight.

Reference: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act; Bill S. 47 ; vote number 13-SV019 on Feb 12, 2013

Opposes defining traditional marriage.

Warren opposes the CC Voters Guide question on same-sex marriage

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Maintaining current federal law defining marriage as one man and one woman"

Source: Christian Coalition Voter Guide 12-CC-q3b on Oct 31, 2012

Endorsed by The Feminist Majority indicating a pro-women's rights stance.

Warren is endorsed by by the Feminist Majority on women's rights

The Feminist Majority endorses candidates for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. In addition to the stronger "endorsement," the organization also determines "preferred" candidates in races where they do not endorse. Their mission statement:

"Our mission is to empower feminists, who are the majority, and to win equality for women at the decision-making tables of the state, nation, and the world. The Feminist Majority promotes non-discrimination on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, age, marital status, nation of origin, size or disability. The purpose of Feminist Majority is to promote equality for women and men, non-violence, reproductive health, peace, social justice and economic development and to enhance feminist participation in public policy. Feminist Majority supports workers’ collective bargaining, pay equity, and end of sweatshops. We encourage programs directed at the preservation of the environment."

Source: FeministMajority.org website 12-FemMaj on Oct 31, 2012

Enforce against wage discrimination based on gender.

Warren co-sponsored Paycheck Fairness Act

    Congress finds the following:
  1. Women have entered the workforce in record numbers over the past 50 years.
  2. Despite the enactment of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, many women continue to earn significantly lower pay than men for equal work. These pay disparities exist in both the private and governmental sectors. In many instances, the pay disparities can only be due to continued intentional discrimination or the lingering effects of past discrimination.
  3. The existence of such pay disparities depresses the wages of working families who rely on the wages of all members of the family to make ends meet; and undermines women's retirement security.
  4. Artificial barriers to the elimination of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex continue to exist decades after the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. These barriers have resulted because the Equal Pay Act has not worked as Congress originally intended.
  5. The Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have important and unique responsibilities to help ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
  6. The Department of Labor is responsible for investigating and prosecuting equal pay violations, especially systemic violations, and in enforcing all of its mandates.
  7. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the primary enforcement agency for claims made under the Equal Pay Act.
  8. With a stronger commitment [to enforcement], increased information on wage data and more effective remedies, women will be better able to recognize and enforce their rights.
  9. Certain employers have already made great strides in eradicating unfair pay disparities in the workplace and their achievements should be recognized.
Source: S.84&H.R.377 13-S0084 on Jan 23, 2013

Enforce against anti-gay discrimination in public schools.

Warren co-sponsored Student Non-Discrimination Act

Congressional Summary: