2023 Year In Review
As we bid farewell to 2023, WoLF takes a moment to celebrate our strides in advocating for and advancing women's rights! This year has represented a tipping point as public awareness of the threats posed by “gender identity” grows. These wins are a testament to our unwavering commitment and the collective strength of women's voices.
WoLF brings hope to women and girls — to restore and protect their rights, safety, and dignity.
A Year of Groundbreaking Advocacy in State Law
Our relentless advocacy yielded historic victories this year across the United States. The most notable being in Kansas, where we successfully enacted the Women’s Bill of Rights — the first in the nation! This milestone not only marked a significant win for WoLF but also set the stage for similar successes in other states. Following Kansas’s lead, both Nebraska and Oklahoma saw their governors signing the Women’s Bill of Rights Executive Order.
In California, hundreds of WoLF supporters stepped up to help create three major legislative wins: stopping SB 729 (expanding access to surrogacy) and AB 957 (punishing parents who don’t “affirm” a child’s gender identity). WoLF supporters also helped pass SB 14, which more harshly punishes child sex traffickers!
Upholding Women's Rights Through Legal Advocacy
WoLF submitted six amicus briefs this year on key cases with far-reaching impacts on women’s rights: Westenbroek, et al. v. Kappa Kappa Gamma et al. in the Tenth Circuit, Metropolitan School District Of Martinsville v. A.C. , Tingley v. Ferguson, and B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education at the Supreme Court level; Damiano v. Grants Pass School District in the Ninth Circuit; and Tennessee, et al. v. US Dept. of Education, et al. in the Sixth Circuit. With the exception of B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education and Tingley v. Ferguson, we are still awaiting the outcomes of these filings — stay tuned for updates in 2024!
With your support, we stood up against the Department of Education’s rulemaking to protect single-sex sports and reject “gender identity” policies in schools. Together, we took a stand against dangerous puberty blockers being prescribed to minors without FDA oversight; WoLF submitted a public comment urging action to halt the off-label use of these drugs used to treat “gender dysphoria.” Plus, WoLF urged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to advocate for women’s needs for safe spaces and the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
Spotlight: Justice for Detransitioners
Earlier this year, over 2,000 supporters joined WoLF to urge the American Academy of Peditarics to abandon its regressive “gender affirmation” In late October, a major lawsuit was announced that caught WoLF’s attention - Ayala v. the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This lawsuit revolves around the troubling issue of transgender medicalization in young individuals, specifically the case of Isabelle Ayala. The WoLF team was already in contact with the attorneys involved and decided to support this case thanks to donors and supporters like you!
Isabelle is a young woman who was pushed into “transgender” medicalization at the vulnerable age of 14 and is now taking legal action against the AAP and several physicians. As an autistic, depressed girl with PTSD after a sexual assault, she was not given the support she needed. Instead, she was allegedly coerced into a path of irreversible puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and experimental surgeries without proper consideration of the risks and long-term consequences. Together, we can hold accountable irresponsible policymaking associations, like the AAP, for pushing vulnerable children into experimental, life-altering medical procedures!
Spotlight: Women’s Prisons
This year also brought multiple updates to the case of Chandler v. CDCR, in which WoLF represents four incarcerated women in California - Janine Chandler, Tomiekia Johnson, Krystal Gonzalez, and Nadia Romero - who have been harmed by the state’s prison “gender identity” policies.
The intervention by the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and Transgender Law Center marked a pivotal moment in our ongoing fight. The release of a state-commissioned report highlighting the dire conditions in California prisons added urgency to our advocacy, especially in light of leadership changes at CDCR this year.
The women at CDCR continued throughout the year to speak out against the injustices they face. Following WoLF’s request for an investigation of the state’s mixed-sex prison law, the California Office of the Inspector General issued a report this past August validating many of our concerns, including the disparate treatment of women.
For over a year, WoLF and its plaintiffs have waited for a ruling on these pending motions. In the meantime, policies such as California’s have resulted in pregnancy, sexual abuse, harassment, violence, and declining quality of life for female prisoners despite such outcomes being entirely avoidable, preventable, foreseeable, and predictable by simply not locking incarcerated women up with men. Earlier this year, WoLF’s lawsuit was featured in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, and educated more people about the erosion of single-sex prisons.
Thanks to supporters like you, WoLF has continued to advance this vital lawsuit! This past year, WoLF was pleased to welcome law firm Campbell Miller Payne PLLC (CMP) to the litigation team for Chandler v. CDCR, joining WoLF counsel to challenge the constitutionality of California’s self-ID prison housing law on behalf of the plaintiffs. We hope next year will bring more progress to this case, which is currently being delayed by legal backlog following the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to all of our supporters who continue to fund our legal advocacy!
PURSUING OUR MISSION for GENERATIONS TO COME
2023 also marked a year of significant growth within WoLF. We welcomed Sharon Byrne as our new Executive Director, as well as two new board members: Margot Heffernan, and Nancy Stade.
2023: The Year The Tides Turned
A new poll sponsored this year by WoLF revealed a massive 20-point swing against gender identity policies since 2020, with a majority of California voters overwhelmingly opposing such policies. Voters in the liberal state demonstrated a huge turn away from self-ID policies in prisons, changing rooms, and women’s shelters. This poll demonstrates the huge amount of progress our movement has made in the past three years — thanks, in part, to WoLF supporters who make this work possible!
It’s Our Ten-Year Anniversary!
Since 2013, the Women’s Liberation Front has fought to liberate women from all forms of sex-based oppression.
Take a walk backward in time with WoLF!
The tremendous growth has been thanks to friends and supporters like you. For this trust, we thank you!
YOU CAN ADVANCE SEX-BASED RIGHTS IN THE US
Your Giving, Your Impact! During this challenge, any gifts of $5,000 or more will be automatically leveraged toward a one-time match challenge up to the amount of your 2023 holiday gift. This means you can DOUBLE the impact of your giving when you make a major gift to restore, protect, and advance the rights of women and girls! Contact Development@WomensLiberationFront.org to learn more about match giving today.