During the August commission meeting, Mayor Teri Johnston and the City Commissioners proclaimed August 26 as Women's Equality Day. The date signifies the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote 104 years ago.
The proclamation notes that Native American women did not gain the right to vote until 1924, Asian Pacific Islander American women in 1952, and Black and Latin American women suffered suppression until the passage of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and 1975.
Today, women are active in local, state, and national government and are running for office in unprecedented numbers, thanks to the resolute American suffragists over a century ago.
Christine Thompson, the Vice President of the Key West National Organization for Women, accepted the proclamation.
In the photo: Commissioners Lissette Carey and Jimmy Weekley, NOW Vice President Christine Thompson, Vice Mayor Sam Kaufman, and Commissioners Clayton Lopez and Billy Wardlow. Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover was in attendance via Zoom.