It's Women's Equality Day !

Today is Women's Equality Day in the United States of America. It is on August 26th because that is the day that women finally got the right to vote as the 19th Amendment was certified in 1920. In 1971, a resolution was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president to celebrate this day as Women's Equality Day.

It is still rather shameful to think that women have been able to vote for less than half of the time the United States has been a country -- and the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote won't be for another 8 years. But the campaign for full equality for women still has not been won. Too often, they are still treated as second-class citizens, and they have yet to achieve equal pay for equal work.

Sadly, one of our two major political parties seems to be going backward's on women's rights. They want to deny women the right to have control over their own bodies, and think women should be subservient to the wishes of men. That same political party is even refusing to pass a bill against domestic violence. I don't need to name that party, since their leaders (like Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Todd Akin, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and others) have made it clear that their party stands against equal rights for women.

There is no justification for denying equal rights to any of our citizens, and never has been or will be -- especially women, who make up more than half of the population. As we celebrate this day, let us remember there is still a long way to go to achieve full equality for women. We must re-dedicate our efforts to finishing the task.