February 21, 2022 — Tomorrow, the Legislature will take up AB 413/SB 409 and AB 414/SB 410 on the floor. These harmful bills will prohibit race or sex stereotyping in any anti-racism and anti-sexism instruction/training in any UW System/Technical College System institutions and for state/local government employees. However, the language in this legislation is so broad that it will inherently create a chilling effect on offering anti-racism and anti-sexism instruction and training to students and state/local government employees. Now is the time to contact your legislator to tell them to Vote No on these harmful bills.
Please take the following action today:
- Call your legislator today and urge them to Vote No on AB 413/SB 409 and AB 414/SB 410. You can identify who represents you here. See below for suggested talking points.
- Today I ask Representative/Senator _____ to Vote No on AB 413/SB 409 and AB 414/SB 410.
- Anti-racism and anti-sexism are at the heart of sexual violence prevention programming.
- Social norms that are associated as risk factors for sexual violence include racism as well as beliefs that support male superiority.
- Anti-racist instruction/training fosters empathy, which is a protective factor for sexual violence, by helping people understand the world from another’s point of view. Anti-sexist instruction/training seeks to counter an individual’s adherence to traditional gender norms, which is a risk factor for sexual violence perpetration.
- Gender socialization, including rigid adherence to gender roles about masculinity and femininity, is one of the social norms that contributes to sexual violence.
- The language in this bill is so broad that it will cause UW System/Technical College System institutions and state/local governments to refrain from providing anti-racist and anti-sexist instruction and training, which will be extremely detrimental to sexual violence prevention efforts.
- While racism and sexism are by their very nature uncomfortable topics, that is not a reason to avoid examining their root causes, such as internalized racial and male superiority.