Chicago—A couple of people interrupted Gov. Pat Quinn when he took his turn at the podium on April 8 to address the crowd of several hundred people at the Richard J. Daley Center. He was speaking on Equal Pay Day, saying we have the Equal Pay Act but not in reality. Quinn said, “Many women who make minimum wage are working full-time while raising children. Can’t we all agree that nobody should work 40 hours a week and be relegated to raising their family in poverty?” He also pointed to the fact that, when his mother was born in 1918, women did not have the right to vote. “It’s hard to imagine such a time,” he went on, “But thankfully—over the last few decades—many barriers to equal rights for women have been knocked down.”

He was interrupted by yelling from fracking protestors. When the eruption occurred, my friend’s reaction was: “I would agree with them, and add demands for pensions for government workers and retirees.” Another friend said, “If politicians want us to support them, they need to be respectful of women.”

—Sue S.