This week at Gender Justice: introducing Gender Justice Action and more
September 24, 2022
Dear Friend,
As a close supporter of Gender Justice, we wanted you to be the first to know about our exciting new work this election season.
Midterm elections are approaching quickly, and the obstacles to realizing our goals of gender justice have reached a new order of magnitude. That is why this fall, Gender Justice launched our new political arm, Gender Justice Action (GJA).
Our GJA team is working to mobilize new voters and elect gender equity champions, beginning now with abortion access. We look forward to sharing more in the coming days and weeks about this exciting new program!
Update on Christina Lusk
In June, Gender Justice, along with co-counsel Robins Kaplan LLP, filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) on behalf of our client, Christina Lusk. Although Ms. Lusk is recognized socially, medically, and legally as female, the DOC insists on housing her in a men’s facility, which has resulted in her experiencing harassment, misgendering and abuse.
The DOC responded to our complaint by moving to dismiss the majority of Ms. Lusk’s claims. On Friday, we filed a detailed memorandum in opposition to the DOC’s motion. You can read that memorandum here.
We are confident that the DOC’s motion will be denied and that our case will continue to move forward. We will keep fighting all the way to trial to ensure that every person in government custody is protected from violence, discrimination and harassment.
Gender Justice in the News
Our work on crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) with the “Designed to Deceive” report Gender Justice co-authored continues to influence policy nationally and make the news.
This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Senate Democrats wrote a letter to the country’s largest network of anti-abortion pregnancy centers demanding it provide information about how the organization gathers, protects, and shares the personal data of pregnant people who seek out its services, spotlighting concerns that the data could be used in abortion-related prosecutions.
Welcome, Sarah!
Our team is delighted to welcome Sara Lam (she/they) as the 2022 Fall Development Intern. She joined Gender Justice to learn more about non-profit organizations and explore non-profit advocacy work. They are a second year at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, majoring in Psychology and minoring in GWSS (Gender, Women, Sexuality Studies), US Comparative Race & Ethnicity, and French. She is passionate about social justice, intersectional feminism, and supporting their community.
Thank you for reading!
–The Gender Justice Team