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Do you know who came up w the legal theory that discrimination "on the basis of sex" is prohibited under the Constitution & helped get "sex" into Title VII?
Pioneering Black activist, lawyer & priest— Pauli Murray— who has posthumously been identified by many as transgender.
Pioneering Black activist, lawyer & priest— Pauli Murray— who has posthumously been identified by many as transgender.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg credited Murray's work as the inspiration for her 1971 brief in Reed v. Reed, the first major Supreme Court case that addressed discrimination based on gender & ruled it unconstitutional under the equal protection clause.
THAT was Pauli's idea, not Ruth's.
THAT was Pauli's idea, not Ruth's.
Born Anna Pauline Murray in 1910, she was WILDLY ahead of her time.
She wrestled w issues of gender identity throughout her life, often posing as a boy or man.
Denied entrance to Harvard due to gender she said, "Gentlemen, I would gladly change my sex to meet your requirements"
She wrestled w issues of gender identity throughout her life, often posing as a boy or man.
Denied entrance to Harvard due to gender she said, "Gentlemen, I would gladly change my sex to meet your requirements"
Long before Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality,” Pauli insisted on the indivisibility of her identity as a Black person & a woman.
Pauli called the intersection of violence against Black women, “Jane Crow.”
Pauli called the intersection of violence against Black women, “Jane Crow.”
Though Pauli Murray struggled w her gender, she used female pronouns (so that's what I use for her) & she was an incredible women's rights advocate.
In 1966 Pauli & a few others convened in Betty Friedan’s hotel room in D.C. & launched the National Organization for Women.
In 1966 Pauli & a few others convened in Betty Friedan’s hotel room in D.C. & launched the National Organization for Women.
Pauli Murray was a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
She testified at a 1970 ERA Senate hearing: “I suggest that what the opponents of the Amendment most fear is not equal rights but equal power & responsibility..."
She testified at a 1970 ERA Senate hearing: “I suggest that what the opponents of the Amendment most fear is not equal rights but equal power & responsibility..."
Among the many issues she cared about, Pauli Murray fought for ecclesiastical equality.
She became the first African-American woman ever vested as an Episcopal priest, and in 2012 she was named to Episcopal sainthood.
She's literally a saint.
She became the first African-American woman ever vested as an Episcopal priest, and in 2012 she was named to Episcopal sainthood.
She's literally a saint.
You can read more about Pauli Murray in Rosalind Rosenberg's book "Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray" & Murray's own "Pauli Murray: The Autobiography of a Black Activist, Feminist, Lawyer, Priest, and Poet" https://global.oup.com/academic/product/jane-crow-9780190656454
This @kathrynschulz @NewYorker piece on Pauli Murray is fascinating: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray
. @irin wrote a piece that gave tribute to Pauli Murray & her influence on yesterday's queer Supreme Court victory https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/the-supreme-courts-intersectional-ruling-on-lgbtq-workers.html
In her piece @irin says Pauli Murray helped get "sex" into the Civil Rights Act by writing a memo that “circulated among senators and White House officials, arguing that sex was the only way to extend the benefits of Title VII to the group that most needed them: black women.”
Yesterday's Supreme Court victory was IN NO SMALL PART due directly to the legal innovation of Black transgender visionary Pauli Murray.
She was, in every sense of the word, a prophet.
She was, in every sense of the word, a prophet.
