Sen. William Campbell and the Conference on Women

In contrast to what Sen. William Campbell’s aide, Jerry Haleva, claimed, the National Organization for Women did not picket Campbell’s 1983 Conference on Women because we “didn’t believe that a male legislator could put on a women’s conference.”

Freud would have been delighted at such an obvious projection of sexism. We can only hope that Haleva checks other facts for the senator more carefully than he did this one.

What actually happened, and is supported by full documentation, is that the senator claimed his 1983 conference was to be the “most comprehensive of all women’s conferences . . . designed for virtually all women” and covering “the full range of women’s issues.”

Members from many women’s groups, including NOW, the Commission on the Status of Women, the ERA Coalition of Orange County, Women’s Network Alert, Ca., Women for Peace, and the National Women’s Political Caucus, believed this to be false advertising, as the conference excluded working women by occurring on a weekday, excluded union women being at an anti-union hotel, excluded many mothers as child care was not provided, and excluded low-income women by charging a flat $20 fee.

These women further questioned Campbell’s claim for the most comprehensive of all conferences, covering the full range of issues. They felt, instead, that the program reflected the senator’s limited image and understanding of women.

Not a single session was originally planned to deal with minority women, teen-age pregnancy, child abuse, education, child care, older women or homeless women. Instead, the conference seemed to focus on the externals in women’s lives. Of the five physicians (all male) scheduled to speak, four were plastic surgeons. In fact, these women suspected that the conference itself was a cosmetic attempt to cover up the senator’s abysmal voting record on women’s issues.

Sen. Campbell has consistently voted against affirmative action for women and minorities, against child care, recognition of spousal rape, the right to reproductive freedom, and has even joined in sponsoring legislation that would outlaw abortion when the mother’s very life is at stake. He has refused to vote for sex equity in the State Title IX, equality for women and bills to finance our children’s education.

Although the program and tone of the Conference on Women appear to have improved over the years, the senator’s voting record has not.

WENDY LOZANO

Laguna Beach