RIPON the GOP and Labor

RIPON The GOP and Labor September 1, 1977 VOL XIII No. 17 50 cents ANTIFEMINISM: NEW CONSERVATIVE FORCE Commentory: Conservotives b Dick Behn While media attention focused this to take it anymore." Accused of being spring on Anita Bryant's crusade against a demagoguge, Briggs has replied,"What's gay rights in Florida's Dade Co~n~y, a a demagogue? The guy provided release more serious and much less publlclzed for the true feelings of people who had conservative movement emerged at state been put down. They were mad as hell, conferences for the International Wo too, but they didn't have anybody to men's Year. Preparing for the national lead them ..• I'm a leader. There's no conference in Houston November 18-21, denying it." the state gatherings began uneventfully enough in late winter of this year, but An interesting aspect of the anti the conferences held in June and July change movement at IWY conferences was turned into fiercely fought conflicts the role of male leaders. They were between "change" and "anti-change" the ones carrying the walkie talkies r<roups. at the New York Women's Meeting in July. Their brightly colored gl~ves signaled The significance of these battles the "right" vote at the Oklahoma con extends beyond the International Women's ference. Male participation went one Year (IWY) becuase they presage a new step farther in Missisippi where seven coalition of "social conservative" . men were elected to the state's nation groups. The groups range from Cathollc al delegation---but no blacks. Less right-to-lifers to Protestant fundamen than a dozen men were said to orches talists to It1embers of the Mormon Relief trate that state's meeting. Society. They have demonstr~t~d con-. siderable skill in both coalltlon POll Commenting on the early July con tics and convention plotting. This new clave in Jackson, the Greenville Delta network of anti-feminists parallels the Democrat-Times' Bill Minor wrote: extraordinary growth of other conserva Mississippi got a look-see last tive organizations over the last two weekend in the International Women's years. Year conference here at a new form of militant conservatism which has emer The influence of Anita Bryant's Save ged to replace the old-time anti-black Our Children campaign may be relatively militancy of the White citizens Coun insignificant by itself, but could be cils and the Ku Klux Klan. a powerful force if teamed with the many Ostensibly not racist in concept, anti-ERA, anti-abortion, anti-gun con the new far-right force apparently trol, anti-busing groups that have pro comes out of a strong reactionary liferated along with Richard Viguerie's backlash fed by religious fundamental mailing lists. California State Sen. ism, self-acclaimed patriotic organi John Briggs(R), for example, found that zations, and some old-time staunchly he could attract a wealth of free publi conservative political groups. city for his GOP gubernatorial campaign Their overall enemy now is not the this spring by flying off to Miami to black man but 'liberalism' in any help Anita Bryant. Briggs tends to style form, as they see it. In many in himself after the mentally erational stances, it is not only liberalism TV anchorman in the movie "Network" who but what they consider non-Christian says,"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going public policy and government programs The anti-change coalition varies from state to state. In Mississippi the Pentecostals are a strong force and groups involved include the John Birch Society, Women for Constitutional Government and Patriotic American Youth. As Minor noted: "While it's hard these days to find persons who publicly iden tify with the Citizens Councilor the Klan, some of the ideas of those groups are evidently being perpetrated through the new conservative coalition in Mississippi." Unfortunately, the level of discourse being fostered is hardly higher than the anti-black agi tation of the 1950s and 1960s. An As sociated Press story quoted two Missi sippi delegates on their reasons for involvement: "We were told in our church that ERA meant the end of marriage, that schoolbooks would show pictures of people having sex with animals, and we've got to protect our children," said Laura Huff. In clear control in Utah, the over Anti-change women bridled at whelming anti-change majority r~n rough charges that they railroaded their views through state conventions such shod over feminists. "Its was like a as the one in Montana where feminists war, only they had atomic weapons and were so overwhelmed that many walked we had words," Maggy Pendleton told out. Mormon women from the Church of the New York Times. "They ran the Latter Day Saints' Relief Society were whole thing. I've never been so rude highly influential, but denied press ac ly treated in my life." A Montana counts they acted under "instructions" woman who was a former chairperson of from church officials. Anti-ERA dele the Montana Right to Life Association gate Ann Allen protested that reli was equally appalled: "The deliberate gious affiliations were inconsequen sabotage of the state International tial in the anti-change coalition. Women's Year Conference in Helena is She and others accused feminists of an occurrence that future generations being poor losers and denounced North will review with shame and disbelief Dakota GOP National Committeewoman It will be like the feelings today's· Gerridee Wheeler's role in promoting blacks must have when they encounter ERA at the Helena conference. Of ERA, historial revelations that many of said Allen, "It will put future genera- their ancestors actually opposed tions into bondage, so to speak, while their own emancipation." at the same time deprive them of their rights as free women." Even,in state's where anti-change for~es dld not succeed, they came The role of Mormons was even more perilously close. Although a pro-ERA obvious in other states. In New York slate was elected in Washington an they were bused in by the hundreds to anti-ERA resolution passed. And vote for the anti-change slate. As in ~hough a pro-ERA resolution passed several June-July conferences, organiz ln Kansas, 12 of the 20 national del ers were overwhelmed by the anti-change egates elected were anti-ERA. In delegates who appeared unexpected at New York, pro-change delegates man the meetings---literally by the thous aged to win all the national spots ands. An incredible 14,000 women but anti-change women took all the showed up in Salt Lake City---compared runnerup slots. And in Ohio, where to 2,000 expected. About 4,500 showed a pro-ERA resolution was adopted by up in Kansas---compared to 2,000 ex a 2-1 margin, the national delegation pected. An extra 2,000 showed up in is 80 percent anti-abortion though Washington state where men were key they constituted only a quarter of anti-change leaders. Columbus meeting's 2,800 participants. In Ohio, the Right to Life Society rath,"The battle might have been won teamed up with representatives of the by the Traditionalists at Farrington Eagle Forum, columnist Phyllis Schla High School [where the Hawaii confer fy's group. They took advantage of ence was held] because there were more an underattended meeting and a large of them. But it was a hollow victory field of delegate aspirants to win indeed because we neVer had much of a delegation control. In addition to chance to talk to each other about com these groups, another force at these mon problems and how we can solve them." state meetings has been the Citizens Review Committee on IWY. The conservatives have charged they have been frozen out of IWY planning. According to Citizens Review Com The feminists have charged that they've mittee leader Rosemary Thomson, the refrained from participating unt~l the group has been working to assure that last minute. Conservative columnist representatives of all women's view James J. Kilpatrick sees a conservative points are allowed to participate victory in the resulting war. Writing in the planning and policy-making for of the Oklahoma state conference, Kil IWY. Thomson charges that feminists patrick concluded that "the troops of from the National Women's Political Cau Bella Abzug got scalped. In another cus, the Gay Rights Task Froce, the column, he prophesied: National Organization of Women and IWY Next November's International Wo have conspired to block participation men's Convention in Houston already of anti-ERA, anti-abortion women in is shaping up as the liveliest brawl planning state conferences. Such ac since John L. Sullivan licked Jake tions violates the intent of Congress Kilrain in 75 bare-knuckled rounds. in appropriating $5 million to IWY, The prospect has its aspects good and says Thomson. "All we're asking for bad. is fairness," she says, adding that What is happening is a kind of coun the actions of IWY organizers lia~e, set terrevolution within the women's rev back the women's movement. To demon olution. For the past 10 years, the strate her point, Sen. Jesse Helms in Gloria Steinems have had things pretty serted ih the Congressional Record a much their own way. Now the Phyllis copy of an NWPC-distributed guide to Schaflys are venturing out of their n-Y organizing, entitled,"Monitoring kitchens. For the first time, mili and Mobile Operation Partnership Pro tancy on the left is encountering mil gram. " itancy on the right. Although Helms denounced feminist IWY thus seems to have been granted tactics for neutralizing conservative a dubious honor.

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