KICKING POLITICIANS OUT OF YOUR VAGINA
In the fall of 2014, during the midterm election sean, Lady Parts Justice (LPJ) launched our first nationwide event called V To Shining V. People from all across the U.S. threw house parties, dance parties, comedy shows, and carnivals. The purpose? To create a fun space that could also inform folks about local, state and federal politicians running for office, intent on destroying reproductive rights. The day raised awareness about the assault on abortion access and how state and local governments are leading the charge against reproductive rights.
But we needed to do more. As we watched the unraveling of civil society start in 2016, we decided to go bigger and up the ante by creating the Golden Probe Awards, an entire awards show designed to showcase the American politicians who posed the biggest threats to reproductive rights.
LPJ gathered our friends Sarah Silverman, Samantha Bee, Broad City, and so many more, all who all pitched in to hilariously exploit all your favorite awards tropes and, of course, show clips of the best “performances” from our nominees, er, politicians, all as a way to teach our viewers who the anti-choice misogynist candidates are running in THEIR state.
Dubbed “Sexism’s Most Glamorous Night,” the Golden Probe Awards, streamed live from New York City, with 22 thousand viewers and over 80 watch parties happening across the country in 30 states from Alaska to New Jersey.
What better way to highlight politicians devoted to ending abortion access than by “honoring” their outstanding achievements in sexism and anti-choice extremism?
Our plans for the 2018 event are underway, and with this new crop of vaginal crossing guards, we can't wait for an even bigger and more glamorous Golden Probe Awards this coming fall.
These sexist politicians aren’t going to expose themselves...or are they? (Yikes.)
To get a taste of the 2016 Golden Probes visit: http://www.goldenprobes.com/home/#home-intro
ABOUT LADY PART JUSTICE
Lady Parts Justice (LPJ) is the first, not safe for work, rapid response reproductive rights messaging hub that uses comedy, culture and digital media to sound an alarm about the terrifying erosion of access to reproductive rights.
In 2012, Lizz Winstead, co-creator and former head writer of The Daily Show, wanted to do more to leverage her experience in the worlds of comedy and broadcasting to help destigmatize abortion, call out misogynistic politicians, and rally voters to fight back against anti-choice legislation on a federal, state and local level.
Around the same time, Michigan State Rep. Lisa Brown was banned from the statehouse floor for using the word VAGINA when arguing against a transvaginal ultrasound bill. When she asked what she should use instead of vagina, the Speaker of the House suggested something less offensive like “lady parts.”
Lisa’s relentless push back to a politician who was offended by the word vagina, yet felt an absolute entitlement to legislate it – was just the last push Lizz needed, and in honor of Lisa Brown, “Lady Parts” Justice was formed!
LPJ is now a comedy war room that produces hilarious strategic and educational content on issues around reproductive care and abortion. Our work is served up across diverse media, from videos and apps to podcasts, and live shows. Pulling no punches, LPJ gives voice and action to folks who care about access to abortion but aren’t sure how to fight back. Our goal is to create a fun and active social community which works to expose and remove politicians who are reproductive health hazards.
At LPJ, we advocate strongly for the reproductive health and rights of women, all genders and non-binary people. Our advocacy has one mission: Whatever your gender identity, we will fight for safe, dignified and affordable reproductive healthcare.
Co-founders:
Lizz Winstead, Arun Chaudhary , Scott Goodstein
A PERSONAL NOTE FROM LIZZ WINSTEAD
This project is close to my heart because women are punished and stigmatized every day for embracing our sexuality. Worse, if we find ourselves with an unintended pregnancy, we are shamed if we decide to have an abortion. And yet 1 in 4 women in her lifetime will have an abortion. It’s time we stop shaming women and start talking about abortion for what it is: a necessary medical procedure that needs to be safe and legal. The anti-choice minority has been counting on our apathy and we need to prove them wrong. This event helps amplify the voices that need to be heard in order to destigmatize abortion and stop restrictive legislation.
The Golden Probe Awards should impact the number of volunteers who sign up to assist in abortion access advocacy, the number of people who know the names of the worst infringers of reproductive rights, and the number of people who actually vote on Election Day.
Ideally, the Golden Probes will encourage people to create their own feminist sleeper cells in their communities to organize around reproductive rights, let people know that access to abortion shouldn’t be negotiable, and have local activism, especially around abortion and bodily autonomy, become a part of their everyday lives.
I hope we send a strong message that abortion is something that people can and should talk about and that they can stand up to the politicians who are infringing on reproductive rights and make their voices heard - while also seeing that everything doesn’t have to be so serious all the time. The Probes are a hilarious and informative way to give voters across the US a chance to learn about the atrociously anti-woman politicians, pundits, organizations, individuals working to eliminate access to abortion and basic reproductive health care before the elections in November.
Access to abortion is about women and trans folks having control over their bodies. To ensure our futures, every person needs to call out anti-choice extremists, register to vote, and GO TO THE POLLS.