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[–]MarkTwainiac 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

As far as I know, gay people also don't have federal legal protections for sexual orientation either in terms of housing and employment discrimination. They got same-sex marriages, but the other stuff got left behind. It seems to me this would be a fruitful endeavor and a higher priority than some of the things they're currently doing.

Some history on what happened with the US federal law known as ENDA: https://www.salon.com/2007/10/08/lgbt/

the vast majority of radical feminists are not in favor of voter ID.

Really? This is news to me. I now live in a state where voters have to show ID & don't know anyone of any political persuasion against the practice. I used to live in state where there was no voter ID, & the polling places were run by people & procedures so lackadaisical there was lots of room for fraud. Can you provide some evidence that "the vast majority of radical feminists" are against voter ID, please?

I understand that many might be against specific laws & movements that use voter ID as a ploy & cover for the real aim disenfranchising certain groups. I am against that too. But that's very different to being against voter ID altogether.

I've long supported organizations & efforts whose aim is to help citizens & residents of the US without IDs obtain them so that citizens can exercise their right to vote; citizens (& residents where applicable) can access important services like Medicare, SS, public education & other state, federal & local benefits; & so citizens & residents, even ones in the US illegally, can have full freedom of movement that includes operating a motor vehicle & flying on a commercial airplane.

Using today's technology & means of outreach that are not just possible but practical, there's no reason for anyone in the US who wants a government-approved ID to be without one. The entire set-up for taking ID photos, printing IDs & laminating them could fit in a briefcase.

There's no reason nowadays to make poor people travel to DMVs when it's easy to go where people who need IDs live & issue them IDs on their doorsteps, or at the local PO, school, grocery store, gas station, senior center, etc. (I've been advocating that booths for issuing IDs be set up wherever people to go to get COVID vaccines, in fact.)Similarly, it's not hard to train outreach workers how to help people without certified copies of their birth certificates or SS cards to obtain them.

https://www.voteriders.org/

https://www.spreadthevote.org/

https://www.demos.org/research/got-id-helping-americans-get-voter-identification

I think supporting such efforts is a better use of my time, money & energy than pretending that in 2021 it's wholly unreasonable to expect people to have photo IDs. I'm surprised to find that some would say this means I'm not a feminist.

Also, I've noticed that many of the same people who vociferously oppose the practice of having to present an ID in order to vote in the US are also advocating for US citizens & residents to be forced to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to go out for a meal, attend school, enter a grocery store, go to Walmart or attend a sporting event, concert or showing of a film in a theater. Seems oddly inconsistent & more than a tad hypocritical to me. (BTW, for various reasons, I am against having to provide proof of vaccine to access most public places within the US, but have no problem with such being required for international travel. If COVID-19 were a predominantly pediatric disease affecting & putting the lives of children at risk like polio, MMR & mumps, or a teenage/young adult disease like bacterial meningitis, I'd have a different view about schools.)

[–]worried19 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for the background on ENDA.

Fair enough, there's been so much Democratic handwringing over voter ID that I figured most leftists were against it because of charges that it disenfranchises poor people of color. I shouldn't assume that's the same view of all radical feminists.