Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly (icon; born August 15, 1924) is a Constitutional lawyer and an American politically conservative activist and author who founded the
Eagle ForumEagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has been primarily focused on social issues; it describes...
. She is known for her opposition to modern feminism ideas and for her campaign against the proposed
Equal Rights AmendmentThe Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
. Her self-published book,
A Choice, Not An Echo, was published in 1964 from her home in
Alton, IllinoisAlton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, across the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
from her native
St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. She formed Pere Marquette Publishers company. She has co-authored books on
national defenseDefense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
and was highly critical of
arms-controlArms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
agreements with the former
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Schlafly founded the
Eagle ForumEagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has been primarily focused on social issues; it describes...
in the 1970s and the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund, St. Louis. , she is still the president of the organizations, and also has a presence on the lecture circuit. Since 1967, she has published a newsletter, the
Phyllis Schlafly Report.
Family
Schlafly's great-grandfather Stewart, a Presbyterian, came from Scotland to New York in 1851 and moved westward through Canada before settling in
MichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Her grandfather, Andrew F. Stewart, was a master mechanic with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Schlafly's father, John Bruce Stewart, was a
machinistA machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
and salesman of industrial equipment, principally for Westinghouse. He became unemployed in 1932 during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and could not find permanent work until
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was granted a patent in 1944 for a
rotary engineThe rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
.
Schlafly's mother was the daughter of attorney Ernest C. Dodge. She attended college through graduate school and worked as a teacher at Hosmer Hall private school for girls in St. Louis. With her father’s legal business suffering during the Great Depression and her husband out of work, she worked as a librarian and a school teacher to support her family.
Phyllis' husband, attorney John Fred Schlafly, Jr., came from a well-to-do St. Louis family. His grandfather, August, immigrated in 1854 from Switzerland. In 1876, his older brother married Catharine Hubert, the daughter of a local businessman. Shortly thereafter, the three brothers founded the firm of Schlafly Bros., which dealt in groceries, Queensware (dishes made by
WedgwoodWedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
), hardware, and agricultural implements. They later sold that business and concentrated on banking and other businesses that made them wealthy.
On October 20, 1949, Phyllis married lawyer John Fred Schlafly, Jr. and remained married until he died in 1993. They moved to
Alton, IllinoisAlton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
and had six children: John, Bruce, Roger, Liza,
AndrewAndrew Layton "Andy" Schlafly is an American lawyer, conservative political activist, teacher of homeschooling classes, and the founder and owner of wiki Conservapedia...
, and Anne. In 1992, their eldest son, John, was
outedOuting is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
as
gayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
by
Queer Week magazine. Schlafly acknowledged that John is gay, but stated that he embraces his mother's views. Their son Andrew founded
ConservapediaConservapedia is an English-language wiki project written from a self-described American conservative Christian point of view. The website considers itself to be a supporter of "conservative, family-friendly" content...
, a conservative open-source encyclopedia, after voicing concerns that
WikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
had a liberal bias. She is the aunt of St. Louis brewery owner
Thomas SchlaflyThomas Francis Schlafly is an American businessman and writer. He co-founded the Saint Louis Brewery, the first microbrewery in Missouri, which produces the Schlafly line of beers. Schlafly is a graduate of the Saint Louis Priory School, and received his A.B. and J.D...
.
Early life
Schlafly was christened Phyllis McAlpin Stewart and brought up as a Roman Catholic in
St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, where she was born. According to one report, during the
DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Schlafly's father went into long-term
unemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, and her mother entered the labor market. Mrs. Stewart was able to keep the family afloat and maintained Phyllis in a Catholic girls' school.
Schlafly began college early and worked as a model for a time. She earned her A.B. Phi Beta Kappa from
Washington University, in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
in 1944. She received a
Master of ArtsA Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree in
GovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
from
Radcliffe CollegeRadcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
in 1945. In one of her books,
Strike From Space (1965), Schlafly notes that during WWII she worked briefly as "a
ballisticsBallistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
gunner and technician at the largest
ammunitionAmmunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
plant in the world." In 1978, she earned a
J.D.Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Washington University Law School in St. Louis.
Activism and political efforts
In 1946, Schlafly became a researcher for the
American Enterprise InstituteThe American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
and worked in the successful
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
campaign of
Claude I. BakewellClaude Ignatius Bakewell was a lawyer, U.S. Representative from Missouri's 11th congressional district, and U.S. Postmaster for St. Louis, Missouri.-Early life and career:...
.
In 1952, Schlafly ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
district. She came to national attention when millions of copies of her self-published book,
A Choice, Not an Echo, were distributed in support of Goldwater's
1964 presidential campaignThe United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
. In it, Schlafly denounced the Rockefeller Republicans in the
NortheastThe Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
, accusing them of corruption and
globalismGlobalism can have at least two different and opposing meanings. One meaning is the attitude or policy of placing the interests of the entire world above those of individual nations...
. Critics called the book a
conspiracy theoryA conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
about "secret kingmakers" controlling the Republican Party. Schlafly attended the 1960
Republican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, and helped lead a revolt of "moral conservatives" against
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's stance (as the
New York Times puts it) "against segregation and discrimination."
In 1967, Schlafly lost a bid for the presidency of the
National Federation of Republican WomenThe National Federation of Republican Women is the women's wing of the Republican Party in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is a grassroots political organization with more than 1,600 local clubs in the 50 states and in the U.S. territories...
against the more
moderateIn politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
candidate Gladys O'Donnell of
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Outgoing NFRW president and future United States Treasurer
Dorothy ElstonDorothy Andrews Elston Kabis was a Republican Party activist from the U.S. state of Delaware who was appointed the 33rd Treasurer of the United States, having served from May 8, 1969, until her death.-Biography:...
of
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
worked against Schlafly in the campaign.
Schlafly joined the
John Birch SocietyThe John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
, but quit because she thought that the main Communist threats to the nation were external rather than internal. In 1970, she ran unsuccessfully for a
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
seat in
IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
against Democratic incumbent
George E. ShipleyGeorge Edward Shipley was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Richland County, near Olney, Illinois, Shipley attended the East Richland High School, Olney, Illinois....
.
Opposition to an Equal Rights Amendment
Schlafly became the most outspoken opponent of the
Equal Rights AmendmentThe Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
during the 1970s as the organizer of the "Stop the ERA" . . . an acronym for "Stop Taking our Privileges", because Schlafly argues the ERA would take away 'privileges', including "dependent wife" benefits under
Social SecurityIn the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
and exemption from Selective Service registration.
In 1972, when Schlafly began her efforts against the Equal Rights Amendment, it had already been ratified by 28 of the necessary 38 states. She organized a campaign to oppose further ratification. Five more states ratified ERA after Schlafly began her opposition campaign; however, five states rescinded their ratifications. The last state to ratify was
IndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, where then State Senator
Wayne TownsendW. Wayne Townsend is a Hartford City farmer and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Indiana who was his party's gubernatorial nominee in 1984. Townsend was defeated by the incumbent Republican Governor Robert D. Orr in a year in which Indiana joined forty-eight other states in reelecting...
cast the tie-breaking vote for ratification in January 1977. In opposing the Equal Rights Amendment, Schlafly argued that "the ERA would lead to women being drafted by the military and to public unisex bathrooms." Her views were opposed by the pro-ERA faction, which led by the
National Organization for WomenThe National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(NOW) and the ERAmerica coalition. To counter Schlafly's Stop ERA campaign, the
Homemakers' Equal Rights Association was formed.
The Equal Rights Amendment was narrowly defeated, despite having achieved ratification in 35 of the 38 states needed.
Critics of Schlafly have emphasized an apparent contradiction between her advocacy against equal rights and her role as a working professional.
Gloria SteinemGloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
and author
Pia de SolenniPia de Solenni is a Catholic theologian in the United States. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Catholic Reporter; she has appeared on CNN, ABC News, and other television programs....
, among others, have noted what they consider irony in Schlafly's role as an advocate for the full-time mother and wife, while being herself a lawyer, editor of a monthly newsletter, regular speaker at anti-liberal rallies, and political activist. In her review of Schlafly's
Feminist Fantasies, de Solenni writes that "Schlafly's discussion reveals a paradox. She was able to have it all: family and career. And she did it by fighting those who said they were trying to get it all for her.…Happiness resulted from being a wife and mother and working with her husband to reach their goals."
Schlafly defends her activism by saying that you can have it all, but not all at once. She raised her children, then got into politics (which she refers to as a hobby see: http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/bio.html) and went to law school. Source:
The Flipside of Feminism
Women's issues
Schlafly told
Time magazine in 1978, "I have cancelled speeches whenever my husband thought that I had been away from home too much."
In March 2007, Schlafly said in a speech at
Bates CollegeBates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
, "By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it
rapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
."
On March 30, 2006, Schlafly provided an interview for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in which she attributed improvement in women's lives during the last decades of the 20th century to labor-saving devices such as the indoor
clothes dryerA clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine....
and paper
diaperA nappy or a diaper is a kind of pant that allows one to defecate or urinate on oneself discreetly. When diapers become soiled, they require changing; this process is often performed by a second person such as a parent or caregiver...
s.
She has called
Roe vs Wade "the worst decision in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court" and said that it "is responsible for the killing of millions of unborn babies".
According to an article in the March 28, 2007 edition of the
Washington Post, "New Drive Afoot to Pass Equal Rights Amendment," Schlafly was then working towards the defeat of a new version of the Equal Rights Amendment: "Today, she warns lawmakers that its passage would compel courts to approve
same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
s and deny
Social SecurityIn the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
benefits for housewives and widows."
United Nations and international relations
In college in 1945, Schlafly applauded the establishment of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Over the years, however, she has disdained the UN. On the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995, Schlafly referred to "a cause for mourning, not celebration. It is a monument to foolish hopes, embarrassing compromises, betrayal of our servicemen, and a steady stream of insults to our nation. It is a
Trojan HorseThe Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
that carries the enemy into our midst and lures Americans to ride under alien insignia to fight and die in faraway lands." She opposed U.S. President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's decision in 1996 to send 20,000 American troops to
BosniaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. Schlafly noted that Balkan nations have fought one another for 500 years and that the U.S. military should not be "policemen" of world trouble spots.
Prior to the 1994 Congressional elections, Schlafly condemned
globalizationGlobalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
through the
World Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
as a "direct attack on American
sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
, independence, jobs, and economy . . . any country that must change its laws to obey rulings of a world organization has sacrificed its sovereignty."
In late 2006, Schlafly collaborated with
Jerome CorsiJerome Robert Corsi is an American author, political commentator and conspiracy theorist best known for his two New York Times bestselling books: The Obama Nation and Unfit for Command...
and Howard Phillips to create a website in opposition to the idea of a "
North American UnionThe North American Union is a theoretical economic union, in some instances also a political union, of Canada, Mexico, and the United States...
", under which the United States, Mexico, and Canada would share a currency and be integrated in a structure similar to the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
In 1961, Schlafly wrote that "[arms control] will not stop Red aggression any more than disarming our local police will stop
murderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
,
theftIn common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, and
rapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
."
Judicial system
Schlafly has been an outspoken critic of what she terms "activist judges", particularly on the Supreme Court. In 2005, Schlafly made headlines at a conference for the
Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional RestorationThe Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration is a conservative, religious organization formed in early 2005 that runs the website ....
by suggesting that "Congress ought to talk about impeachment" of Justice
Anthony KennedyAnthony McLeod Kennedy is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy has often been the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions...
, citing as specific grounds Justice Kennedy's
deciding voteRoper v. Simmons, was a decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18. The 5-4 decision overruled the Court's prior ruling upholding such sentences on offenders above or at the...
to abolish the death penalty for minors. In April 2010, shortly after
John Paul StevensJohn Paul Stevens served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from December 19, 1975 until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history...
announced his retirement as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Schlafly called for the appointment of a military veteran to the Court, since Stevens had been a veteran and, with his retirement, the court was "at risk of being left without a single military veteran."
2008 presidential election
Schlafly did not endorse a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but she has spoken out against
Mike HuckabeeMichael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, whom she says as governor left the Republican Party in
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
"in shambles". She has hosted at the Eagle Forum U.S. Representative
Tom TancredoThomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
of
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, known for his opposition to illegal immigration. Before his election she criticised
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as "an elitist who worked with words".
Same-sex marriage
Schlafly opposes same sex marriage and civil unions: "[a]ttacks on the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman come from the gay lobby seeking social recognition of their lifestyle." Linking the
Equal Rights AmendmentThe Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
to LGBT rights and same-sex marriage played a role in Schlafly's opposition to the ERA.
Honorary degree and protests
On May 1, 2008, the Board of Trustees of
Washington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
announced that Schlafly would be presented an
honorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
at the school's 2008
commencement ceremonyGraduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
. This was immediately met with objection by some students and faculty at the university who accused her of being anti-feminist and criticized her work on defeating the equal rights amendment. Fourteen university law professors wrote in a complaint letter that Schlafly's career demonstrated "
anti-intellectualismAnti-intellectualism is hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and contemptible...
in pursuit of a political agenda." While the Board of Trustees' honorary degree committee approved the honorees unanimously, five student members of the committee wrote to complain that they had to vote on the five honorees as a slate, in the final stage of the voting and feel the selection of Schlafly was a mistake. Katha Pollitt of
The NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine criticized the decision, decrying Schlafly as a "promoter of innumerable crackpot far-right conspiracy theories" and an opponent of women's rights.
In the days leading up to the commencement ceremony, Washington University Chancellor
Mark S. WrightonMark Stephen Wrighton is an American academic, a chemist, and the current Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wrighton received his B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1969. While at Florida State, he won the Monsanto Chemistry Award for...
explained the university’s Board of Trustees' decision to award Schlafly’s degree with the following statement:
At the May 16, 2008, commencement ceremony, Schlafly was awarded a
Doctor of Humane LettersThe degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
degree. A protest to rescind Schlafly's honorary degree received support from faculty and students. During the ceremony, hundreds of the 14,000 attendees, including one third of the graduating students and some faculty, silently stood and turned their backs to Schlafly in
protestA protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
. In the days leading up to the commencement there were several protests regarding her degree award; Schlafly described these protesters as "a bunch of losers." In addition, she stated after the ceremony that the protesters were "juvenile" and that, "I'm not sure they're mature enough to graduate." As planned, Schlafly did not give any speech during the commencement ceremony, nor did any of the other honorees except for commencement speaker
Chris MatthewsChristopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
.
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