Topic: Sex/Gender

Families need more affordable childcare options, not to have good options taken away!

The State Department has just proposed new regulations for the nation’s long beloved Au Pair program that could double, even triple, costs for families. These new rules would gut the program—or eliminate it entirely as an option for working parents. 

These proposed rules simply don’t make sense.  

• Au pairs report high levels of satisfaction under the program’s existing structure, as do the families who engage them. Why is the Biden administration proposing to fix what isn’t broken?

• The proposed rules will cost families an additional $10,000 to $20,000 each year. They will also require families to take on new administrative burdens, like keeping a list of all meals offered “and accepted” by the au pair each week and obtaining written sponsor approval for any changes to the au pair’s weekly schedule. The proposed rules ignore the many ways families support au pairs by providing not only housing and food, but by incorporating them into their family life, providing other material support including access to cars, auto insurance, cell phones, and more.  

• The rules also reduce the number of hours au pairs can be asked to work each week from 45 to 40. 

• In essence, the Biden administration is proposing to reduce the number of childcare hours host families can use, while significantly increasing the cost. 

• These changes will make this form of child care simply too inflexible and expensive for many families, which is a loss for working parents, au pairs, and American diplomacy. 

Tell the State Department not to destroy the Au Pair program!  

Only a few thousand families use au pairs—but there is no reason to take away this option and push these families into the childcare market, where childcare slots are often already scarce. 

Your voice matters in this conversation!  

We have until December 29, 2023, to weigh in on these proposed changes—regulators need to hear from you now! 

Fill out the form to easily submit a comment to urge the State Department not to destroy a beloved childcare option and opportunity for young people from around the world to visit the United States.

Personal messages are more likely to be read by officials. Write your own message or personalize the template before sending.

Eventbrite has done it again!  They continue to cancel events featuring women’s voices speaking the truth about the harms of gender ideology on women.  

The latest events to be canceled featured IW ambassador Riley Gaines and IW storyteller Chloe Cole.

“Eventbrite continues its efforts to silence women and suppress women, while at the same time supporting pro-terrorist, pro-Hamas rallies,” Gaines told the National Review.  “It is not the first time we’ve seen Eventbrite cancel women’s voices. This summer, Eventbrite tried to cancel the ‘Let Women Speak Austin’ event in Texas, but thanks to the brave women leading the charge, the event went on as scheduled. Eventbrite’s hateful, anti-woman agenda will not interrupt my upcoming discussion surrounding basic truth, protecting the integrity of female sports, and promoting safety, fairness, and equal opportunities for women.”

Eventbrite, co-founded by CEO Julia Hartz, has claimed to celebrate and empower women in the past, and bills itself as a platform “that allows anyone to create, share, find and attend events that fuel their passions.” She has made comments like, “Let’s keep celebrating women. In this curated collection, @Eventbrite’s experts showcase virtual events made for anyone to learn, celebrate, inspire change, and empower women everywhere. #WomensHistoryMonth.”

But actions speak louder than words.

Reject Bigotry! Tell Eventbrite to STOP 
viewpoint discrimination and the silencing of women.

The YMCA is letting down its female members in communities across the nation. By allowing biological men to use female-designated locker rooms and bathrooms, the Y is compromising both privacy and safety. But that’s not all. Some YMCAs have even gone so far as to ban females who object to these practices from using their facilities. 

In Illinois, 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler was kicked off the YMCA’s club swim team and then banned from the Springfield YMCA for voicing her concerns about sharing a women’s changing space with a male. 

Abigail’s sister, Kaitlynn Wheeler, a former NCAA swimmer and teammate of Riley Gaines at the University of Kentucky, said: “It is crazy to me that we are having this conversation. The safety and security of females in women-only spaces should be protected — otherwise it is false advertising to have sex-specific spaces and opportunities. Forcing any woman — especially minor girls — to share a locker room and undress before a male is irresponsible and inappropriate and undermines a woman’s human rights, respect, and dignity.”

In Port Townsend, Washington, 80-year-old Julie Jaman, who was a 35-year regular at her local YMCA, was banned from that facility’s pool for complaining about a transgender worker who was present in a women’s private changing space as mothers removed little girls’ bathing suits.

Most recently, a group of female athletes and parents voiced concerns about a transgender individual groping and leering at young girls at small-town YMCAs in suburban Ohio.  

The YMCA, can and should do what is right and play a leadership role by ensuring women continue to feel safe in their facilities. 

The YMCA should understand that biological differences between the sexes sometimes warrant the creation of separate social, educational, athletic, or other spaces in order to ensure safety and/or to allow members of each sex to feel safe, succeed and thrive. Read more.

Take Action! Send a message to YMCA leadership to respect the privacy and safety of their female members

Show women of all ages that they have support and can stand up to the YMCA. Together, we can ask for a policy change that supports common sense protections for women’s privacy and safety! 

Schools must be safe environments for students to learn and thrive. New Mexico’s Public Education Department must thoroughly investigate sexual assaults that are taking place in schools and enact policies to better protect students.

Recently, a middle school student went public describing how she was allegedly raped in a middle school bathroom. Evidence exists that she was not the only victim at that school—other girls were also harassed. Horrifyingly, little seems to have been done to find the perpetrator or to ensure that girls are protected from similar predators moving forward.

Parents and all concerned citizens in New Mexico deserve answers.

• What is being done to investigate these allegations?
• What is the New Mexico Public Education Department doing to prevent sexual assault from taking place in schools?
• What actions are being taken specifically to protect girls’ safety and privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms?

Tell New Mexico’s Public Education Department to take sexual assault and students’ safety in schools seriously and to further investigate these recent reports.