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September 6, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – “Women didn’t get the right to vote. Women earned the right to vote. Women fought for the right to vote and got it.”

That was one of many messages that women’s rights activist Lisa Maatz brought to the crowded Common Room of Weber Retreat and Conference Center on August 27, 2024, – the day after the 104th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting white women the right to vote.

Lisa’s talk on the day after Women’s Equality Day was sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion. Kevin Hofmann, director of the office, in his welcome, noted that “we’ve come a long way” toward women’s rights, “but we’re not done.”

Lisa’s long-time activism for women’s rights included serving as Vice President of Government Relations and Advocacy for the American Association of University Women, spearheading a campaign that ultimately led to the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She represented women’s advocacy groups on Capitol Hill and is now a national consultant focusing on gender issues, grassroots advocacy, and nonprofit organizations.

Lisa began her advocacy when she was still in elementary school. She and her classmates discovered that, while they had no doors on their bathroom stalls, the boys did. “I’m not sure if I thought it was a gender issue, but I felt it was a fairness issue,” she recalled. After the principal rejected her personal request for stall doors, she started a petition drive which ultimately garnered 200 signatures. “We got doors two weeks later,” she recalled.

“When we think about women’s rights today, you have to remember where we’ve been and how long social change can take,” Lisa said. She noted that the fight for women’s right to vote in the United States began in 1848 with a Women’s Rights Conference in Seneca Falls, New York, but it took until 1920 for the 19th Amendment to pass. “It was a long time in the making,” she said. The suffragettes who marched in Washington, D.C., suffered for their efforts. “These women were getting stoned, getting fruit thrown on them, getting pushed and shoved as they were walking,” she said.

It took U.S. women of color 40 more years to get the vote. Still, many marched with the white women in Washington, D.C., despite being told that they couldn’t join them. “They walked anyway,” Lisa said. “Indeed, their presence was part of what made that march so momentous.”

Once the 19th Amendment was passed, the women’s movement spent “40 years in the desert … conflicted about what they should do and the next issues,” Lisa said. They agreed on only one issue: passing the Equal Rights Amendment, stating that rights should not be abridged on account of sex. 

“To this day, we don’t have an Equal Rights Amendment” due to technicalities, Lisa said. Only 35 states had ratified the 28th Amendment by 1977, but 38 were required. Virginia was the 38th state to ratify the amendment in 2020, but the deadline had passed and other states had since rescinded their ratification. “There’s a new, energetic movement to get the ERA passed,” Lisa added.

Another key issue today is the pay gap between men and women who perform approximately the same work and the even greater pay gap suffered by women of color. Lisa led a coalition that helped to bring about the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. The 2007 Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., set a 180-day statute of limitations, starting with the employer’s pay decision. The bill sets the statute of limitations to begin with each new paycheck, allowing women more time to file a complaint. 

In recent years, Lisa said, the women’s movement has expanded. “It comes down to intersectionality,” addressing the various identities of women, including gender, race, and class. “We work with any group that also cares about our issues,” she said. “If your group cares about violence against women but doesn’t take the stance I like on Title IX, I’ll still work with you.”

Lisa had final piece of advice for both women and men: “Never take voting for granted.” She cautioned that, while the vote is fairly well protected in Michigan, the Secretary of State in some states perform regular purges of voter registrations. “Check to make sure your registration is still valid.” In addition, she said, “Anything you can do to register new voters can make a difference.”

Watch the entire presentation.

 

Caption for above photo: Lisa Maatz, women's rights advocate, speaks at the podium during a presentation sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion.