Erin Antoch | Staff Writer

1. THEY HELPED PROPEL THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Everyone knows who Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are, and the incredible role they played in civil rights. But most Americans don’t know about the other women involved in organizing the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began only days after Rosa Parks famously kept her seat. These activists copied and distributed fliers which effectively led the boycott. In addition to protesting segregation, they protested sexual assault and fought against the commonality of the rape of black women by white men in the South. The fight against sexual assault began a long time before this, but the women’s rights activists of the civil rights era are definitely worth celebrating for that, too.

2. THEY PRESSURED THE FBI TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF RAPE SO IT DIDN’T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MEN

The federal government used to define rape as, “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will,” which clearly ignores the fact that men are victims of rape, too. That changed once the Feminist Majority Foundation’s “Rape is Rape” campaign pressured the FBI to change its discriminatory definition. The new definition includes all forms of penetration and no longer excludes men as victims, so that all victims can seek justice.

3. THEY HELPED EXPAND THE SCOPE OF HATE CRIMES TO PROTECT THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY

Before The National Organization for Women— along with many other justice organizations— led the efforts to expand the definition of hate crimes, the definition was not specific to anyone outside of race, religion national origin. By pressuring to include gender, sexual orientation and disability, they were able to provide legal protection for the LGBTQ community under federal law.

4. THEY ENSURED MEN WERE ABLE TO RECIEVE NECESSARY HEALTH SERVICES

Despite Planned Parenthood’s (PP) reputation for being solely a “women’s health organization,” it provides services far above and beyond what headlines say. Along with the affordable health care offered for women, PP also provides “…preventative health care for men, including testing and treatment of STDs, including HIV testing, and sexual health information and education,” Eric Ferrero, Planned Parenthood’s former vice president of communications, said to PolicyMic.com.