Rudy Rucker writes, “Isabel Rucker and friends are promoting a GoFundMe project to give an Ms. subscription to each of the elected officials in Wyoming. Why? To raise awareness of women’s issues. Wyoming has the largest gender pay gap in the country, has the smallest percentage of women in its state legislature, is among the costliest for childcare, and faces continuing cuts in publicly funded family planning and in women’s health services.”
Dear [Legislator Name],
We write as a group of Wyoming women interested in starting a conversation about equality in the state. To begin, we are sending you a two-year subscription to Ms. magazine. The magazine will provide you with an important perspective on the issues faced by women in the nation and state today. We are concerned that Wyoming legislators have too often ignored women. We ask you to write and support better legislation to improve the lives of half our population, half of your constituents.
Wyoming has the largest gender pay gap in the country, the smallest percentage of women in its state legislature, and is among the costliest for spending on childcare in relation to income. It faces continuing cuts in publicly funded family planning and women’s health services. Wyoming mandates only the bare federal minimum wage and offers only the unpaid family and medical leave required by the federal government. Health care and insurance are expensive and are often inaccessible to single mothers and low-income women.
Of the population entering the workforce nationwide, women are earning the most college degrees and adding high value to their communities; how will you attract and retain these women? As Wyoming moves forward with planning its future, where are women in your plans? Will you craft better legislation to bring us to our “Equality State” promise?
Finally, we ask you; can Wyoming afford to ignore women? We think not.
Respectfully,
Ms. Magazine for Wyoming
[Gofundme]