Stockton University’s Pride Alliance Club made a trip to Washington D.C from March 22 to March 25, 2024, for a feminist conference. The Pride Alliance Club arrived in D.C Friday afternoon accompanied by Stockton’s Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Center’s Director, Laurie Dutton.

The Feminist Majority Foundation hosted their first National Young Feminist Leadership Conference since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The conference was held in the Crystal City DoubleTree Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Led by foundation president, Eleanor Smeal, the 3-day conference touched upon many pressing issues regarding women’s equality issues circulating the congress. The first day of the conference began with introductory speeches about the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition and their Shout For Equality campaign. Speakers at the introductory ceremony included former U.S representative for New York, Carolyn Maloney, as well as Co-Founder of Pandida Health, Dr. Sophia Yen. Saturday, March 23, consisted of several “breakout sessions” of different topics such as voter suppression and what life is like post Roe v. Wade. When asked about the most pressing women’s rights issue happening today, Maloney reaches for the Equal Rights Amendment being brought into question and stresses the importance of women being added into the United States Constitution. Maloney expressed that “If they can take away our reproductive rights, they can take away our rights anywhere, and the only way to protect women is to put them where they can’t get to them, which is in the constitution.” During her introductory speech, Yen dived deep into the pressing issue of legislators squeezing their way into the medical field making health decisions for others. During her speech, she states “Keep your religion out of my uterus” and “Keep politics out of medicine” and the audience roared with applause.

The first breakout session, “Gerrymandering and Voter Suppression”, was hosted by several panelists who discussed how the issue impacts college students, people of color, and people who are impoverished. The panelists discussed how gerrymandering, a process where electoral district maps are “drawn” in favor of a specific political party or race giving an unfair advantage over its opponent, is destroying the ability for citizens to properly and fairly vote. The panelists then discuss voter suppression tactics to deter people without resources from voting. Some tactics include passing voter ID laws in order to make it more difficult to register to vote, or voter misinformation & disinformation to confuse and scare voters into changing their minds. Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Panelist, Morgan Conley, honed in on the importance of students voting in their college’s state rather than their home state in hopes of swaying the state’s outcome for this year’s upcoming presidential election. 

The second breakout session, “Why Comprehensive Sexual Education Is Critical In A World Without Roe”, was hosted by four college students in the area who work to improve the sexual education curriculum being taught in schools across the United States. The panelists stressed the importance of reforming the current sexual education curriculum to modernize the content being taught as well as making it more inclusive to the LGBTQ community and people who are disabled. Maya Rowan, a junior at Depaul University, discusses the importance of implementing consent as part of the curriculum of sexual education as well as mental-emotional sexual education. Rowan emphasized the importance of “peer to peer and discussion based” when hosting sexual education events. She states, “Everyone is going to be coming in with a different understanding of sexual education”.

The third breakout session, “Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Abortion & Birth Control”, was another panel led Yen and staff members from different abortion clinics in the D.C area. The panelists discussed important things to know such as myths regarding abortion and birth control. Yen pointed out that “Medication is trying to be banned in the Supreme Court”. DC Abortion Fund Engagement Manager, Hannah CD, says that “Many people in 2022 and 2023 are traveling to the DMV area for abortions”. When discussing the morning-after pill, Yen points out that it is important to provide free emergency contraceptives for others to prepare. She states that the morning-after pill “should be stored like a fire hydrant, kept in the corner and stored for emergencies”.

The Feminist Majority Foundation concluded the evening with East and West Coast caucuses for students who were looking to connect with other young feminist from the same area. The FMF also hosted a feminist social as well as a free feminist comedy show on Saturday night. 

The second day of the conference commences by an introductory speech by Smeal. Several other speakers were introduced including Co-Founder & Executive Director of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, Dr. Lauren Beene, as well as Former Virginia House Speaker, Eileen Filler-Corn. The speeches discussed the issues in congress circulating today regarding abortion bans in several states and the bodily autonomy that is being taken away from women in the United States. When later questioned about what is missing from the feminist movement today, Smeal emphasizes the importance of ratifying the Equal Right Amendment. “A lot of rights are in peril right now,” Smeal said.

Kiera Liu, a first-year student, believed that the introductory speakers truly changed her mentality. When asked what she thought of her experience at the conference Liu recounted, “Attending the Conference in DC was not only a great experience and learning opportunity, it gave me hope. While surrounded by other feminists and trailblazers for the feminist majority movement, I felt inspired and heard. One quote that particularly spoke to me regarding the importance of feminism was, “They never gave us the right to vote.” I thought, “Wow, actually, you’re right,” we fought this whole time, and we cannot stop fighting now. Bad things happen because good people do nothing. I cannot stand by as my rights are being stripped away. I knew I had to vote before, but now, during the year of the presidential election and a post-Roe era, I must do something, specifically voting. Seeing the faces of all the other feminists who will also vote to defend women, I can only hope our future is better. We will never stop fighting. After all, “they never gave us the right to vote,” so we’ll take it, own it, and use it to shape our future.”

Samantha Flatten, a first-year student, believes that the conference was very beneficial and informative. Flatten believes that the conference “opened her eyes” to new perspectives. Flatten said that “Everyone should have the option and ability to learn about feminism and how to incorporate it into everyday life”. The touching presentations by the The Feminist Majority Foundation has changed many mindsets and inspires college students to make a change on campus.

More information on the Pride Alliance Club can be found here.