NASCC celebrates women’s equality

Personnel stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi held a Women’s Equality Day celebration on board the installation, Aug. 20.

Women’s Equality Day celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920, which guaranteed women the right to vote.

Before the 19th amendment passed, the U.S. Constitution left the boundaries of suffrage undefined. The only directly elected body created by the original Constitution was the House of Representatives, and voter qualifications were determined by each state separately.

Between 1878 and 1920, champions of voting rights for women worked tirelessly, although their strategies varied.

Some tried to pass suffrage acts in each state—nine western states adopted women suffrage legislation by 1912.

Others challenged male-only voting laws in the courts. More public tactics included pickets, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. Suffragists were heckled, jailed, and sometimes physically abused.

Women’s Equality Day gives Americans an opportunity to reflect on the many benefits of true equality and the role of women throughout the nation.

“The sacrifices of many women that came before me, and those I have served with and met along the way, have all laid the foundation for me and other women to not only vote, but lead and serve in this great nation,” said guest speaker HMC Yesenia Minaya.

The drive to win the vote was a broad and diverse effort. There was a strong suffrage movement in many black communities, but black women, particularly in the South, were barred from voting for decades after 1920.

It wasn’t until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, that their rights were finally upheld.

Additionally, the voting rights of Native American women were not recognized until 1924. For Chinese American women, it was 1943, and for Japanese and other Asian American women it was 1952.

Women in the armed forces, public service, and government have long served this nation by working to clear barriers, enforce laws, implement new ideas, and change people’s attitudes.

Today, all military positions are open to women including infantry, armor, reconnaissance and special operations.

Other notable achievements by women in the Navy include:

YNC Loretta Perfectus Walsh became the first female chief petty officer in the Navy on March 21, 1917.

The first female officer to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy occurred in 1980.

In 1983, Lt. Susan Cowar became the first woman surface warfare officer screened as an executive officer for an afloat command.

Cmdr. Debra Gernes became the first woman selected for command at sea in 1988.

Completion of the first large deployment of women on a combatant ship occurred in 1995 when 400 women deployed aboard USS Eisenhower (CVN 69).

CMDCM JoAnne Ortloff became the first female fleet command master chief when she was assigned to 3rd Fleet in 2009.

Three women became the first unrestricted line officers to qulify in submarines and received their “dolphins” in 2012.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, as of Sept. 30, 2013, the total veteran population in the United States and Puerto Rico was approximately 22 million.

The population of women veterans numbers more than 2.5 million.

“As women in the armed forces, we can proudly say that our pay is not impacted by our gender,” said Minaya. “Furthermore, many women who served before us ensured we had equality in certain areas within the armed forces.”