Proposers: Ann Wiesner of Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation and Karen Kortsch of International Convocation of UU Women
Bringing a Feminist and Womanist Lens to Resistance and Activism
Misogyny and Misogynoir remain intractable realities that diminish, punish, and control women+ around the world. The oppression of women+[1] has been drastically intensified by the current political climate in the United States, which has ripple effects across the globe.
In this moment, women+ are disproportionately impacted by the current political climate as attempts are made to:
Hijack women’s right to choose whether or not to have children through bans on abortion care and financial incentives for birthing babies
Roll back efforts to curb climate change, resulting in more climate refugees–a majority of whom are women+ and children;
Attack the health care rights of trans women and girls, including forced detransitions through withholding gender-affirming medications and procedures;
Spread disinformation campaigns about trans women and girls, putting them at greater risk of harm in their schools and communities;
Target healthcare organizations who provide women+’s health care and gender-affirming care as a means of reducing access to this care;
Implement multiple barriers to voting, including expanded voter ID requirements, using gender to reject legitimate legal identification documents such as birth certificates or passports, and reducing access to the polls;
Carry out illegal paramilitary ICE raids on private homes and businesses, schools and community centers, and detaining, deporting, and disappearing people without due process;
Use ICE and law enforcement to create an atmosphere of fear that prevents families from freely moving about in their communities to meet their basic needs, resulting in lost wages, hunger, missed school, and other hardships;
Criminalize diversity, equity, and inclusion activities in public and private institutions, characterizing gender equality as illegal and discriminatory;
Slash funding of critical services and supports for families;
Fire tens of thousands of federal workers, disrupting their family’s financial security, access to health care, ability to pay their rent or mortgage, and plunging them into debt.
Our Unitarian Universalist faith affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and centers justice, equity, and compassion in all our endeavors. In this moment, UU Congregations should be safe, nurturing, and affirming places for women+ and their families to obtain spiritual sustenance and support. Our faith demands that we not only speak out and resist the activities of the regime; we must also ensure that our own faith community roots out misogyny, misogynoir, and transphobia so that all of us feel true belonging. Without spiritual sustenance, the violence and oppression that’s happening around us will be impossible to endure. We must resist the oppression of women+ both outside and inside our own walls.
Resolution: We, the delegates of the 2025 UUA General Assembly, call on Unitarian Universalists to:
Build feminist and womanist activist networks. Build relationships with local, actively feminist and womanist organizations who have long been on the front lines of the fight for gender justice and reproductive freedom, and offer support that is informed by their leadership and wisdom.
Speak out. Participate in local demonstrations, rallies, and mobilizations against the actions of the Trump regime, and call out the particular impact on women+. Bring a liberal faith-based voice to these forums and speak out about our faith’s moral imperative to advance gender justice.
Re-examine theology through a feminist/womanist lens by participating in SACReD’s Reproductive Justice Curriculum (http://www.sacreddignity.org/ or http://www.uuwf.org), and internalize the four pillars of Reproductive Justice:
The right to bodily autonomy
The right to have children
The right to not have children
The right to raise children in a safe and sustainable environment
Look within. Examine our congregational practices with a feminist and womanist lens, and conduct an honest inquiry into where misogyny, misogynoir, and transphobia show up within our own walls. Educate ourselves and others about how these dynamics are perpetuated in liberal, progressive communities. Explore ways to respond, repair, and change our congregation’s policies and practices to ensure that women+ are not dismissed, iced out, ignored, scapegoated, diminished, attacked, or silenced.
Join with other UU congregations in gender justice activities. Consider becoming an Affiliate of UUWF and commit to long-term gender justice work.
Feedback session recording:
We believe that trans women are women, without exception. We believe that gender-expansive, nonbinary, IndigiQueer, or two-spirit people who feel most comfortable in/identify with women’s spaces should be welcomed and included in our work. When we say “women+”, we include these people. ↩︎
This is an important issue, but I am not sure whether it is immediate in the same sense as protecting democracy or stopping deportations. It may be too big for an AIW; may be more suited to a CS/AI, which has more breadth?
True; of course so are immigrants, so are many from various federal antidemocratic policies, etc. All of these are important; I really wish we could pass all 5 and I surely will bring them all back to my society for discussion on what would be the best use of our efforts for the greatest impact in our community.
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clandrumcsw
(Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum, Commission on Social Witness)
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The discussion session for this AIW is tonight a 4pm PT/5pm MT/6pm CT/7pm ET. To sign up and receive the Zoom link find the link on this page: https://www.uua.org/action/process
Please consider and take seriously “not othering” by removing the word “other(s)” from this AIW. Bringing a Feminist and Womanist Lens to Resistance and Activism
Existing (Text): Educate ourselves and (others) about how these dynamics are perpetuated in liberal, progressive communities.
Proposed {Text}: Existing Text: Educate ourselves and {allies} about how these dynamics are perpetuated in liberal, progressive communities.
This AIW is needed. The misogyny, is real. The War on women and humans and children is real. George Orwell’s book 1984 is being combined with a Handmaids tale to map out restoring the de- humanization of women, and non-nuclear families. Count yourself lucky if you do not think this is an immediate issue. If I do not act like Donna Reed or a Stepford wife, all judgement & manipulation I have witnessed reigns from specific individuals of the Boomers Generation to get back inline. Specific individual conservative white nationalists demand binary roles for each and all. Individuals I have witnessed do not respect the right to privacy for women, LGBTQ+ and children. While this is a culture clash, I celebrate and applaud this thoughtful, thorough AIW. With Infinite gratitude, this is a balm for my soul.
The new administration, religious right, etc., is certainly pushing folks into traditional binary gender roles, that is certainly a problem worthy of consideration for an AIW. For me, the Boomer label on the effort doesn’t work—I am one, and in our college years we were strongly fighting those roles as requirements. To me, it seems more aligned with the same group that is antiabortion: extremely conservative politically, evangelistic Christian, etc. Yes, white nationalists/white supremacists.
The other four AIWs are all worthy of support, with some difficulty narrowing to 3. This one is not. This proposed AIW is all over the lot. Some issues directly affect women. Others affect everyone, arguably with disproportionate effects on women. The broad scope severely weakens any impact this AIW might have. I assume AIWs are intended to communicate to the wider world. This one would fail miserably for that purpose. It includes too much, and it uses rhetoric (e.g., “woman+”) that no one understands and with which many may disagree to some extent.
