MANCHESTER, NH – Women and LGBTQ+ people in New Hampshire are pushing back against a slew of new laws designed to limit their access to abortion and contraception and gender-affirming healthcare. In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Southern New Hampshire Branch in partnership with 350 NH, Rights and Democracy NH, American Friends Service Committee, New Hampshire Reproductive Freedom Fund, the coalition to Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) and Occupy NH Seacoas is hosting a rally in Veteran’s Park in Manchester, NH on Saturday, March 11, 2023, 1 – 3 p.m.
“International Women’s Day was founded by socialist working women in the early 1900s. I think it’s an important day because EVERY issue is an issue facing working-class women and gender-oppressed people. From the struggle for reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights, to the fight for higher wages and child care, to the need to end mass incarceration, we must stand up for meeting the needs of all women. It’s also crucial to note that many working women are doing double duty working full time on top of caretaking for family members as well.”
– Mandy L., Organizer, Party for Socialism and Liberation
“Our organization sees International Women’s Day as a day of celebration of the efforts and achievements of radical women throughout history, especially in the development of working-class power. From the Paris Commune, when the women went out en masse and convinced the soldiers to join the communards in their unprecedented revolution, to modern day radical labor, wherein women have shown some of the greatest resolve and determination in their work and have become invaluable to our unions and otherwise pro-worker organizations, women have been and will continue to be more and more instrumental to the realization of a Workers’ Democracy – after all, women hold up half the sky.”
– Rachael Perzyk, Organizer, Workers Democracy
“The criminal legal system is just not equipped, designed, or set up for women. As a formerly incarcerated woman, I have experienced firsthand the hurt, harm, fear and abuse incarcerated women face including lack of basic access to menstrual products. We are still human, and our basic, biological needs should be honored in a dignified manner. No one should be forced to risk toxic shock syndrome, infection, or infertility to manage a natural bodily function. On International Women’s Day we must also remember to honor the women our system tries to throw away and forget and protect the dignity of all who menstruate.”
– Ophelia Burnett, Healing Justice Organizer, American Friends Service Committee
The sustained attacks on the rights and well-being of women and the LGBTQ+ community requires us to come together to affirm the strength and resilience of Women and LGBTQ+ communities and call on elected leaders from all sides of the aisle to stand up for Women’s reproductive rights and the LGBTQ+ community.
