Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

   
 

Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis McAlpine Stewart Schlafly (born August 15, 1924) is an American conservative political activist known for her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Born in Missouri, Schlafly was raised as a devout Catholic in a poor family. She began school at a young age, graduating from Washington University in St. Louis at only 19, and later earned a J.D. from WUSTL. She later attended Harvard University, and received her B.A. and M.A.

In 1952 she unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a member of the United States Republican Party.

She first came to national attention as the writer of the best-selling book A Choice, Not an Echo, written in support of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, and denouncing the corruption and liberalism of other Republicans, especially those in New England.

In 1967 she founded her own political newsletter, the Phyllis Schlafly Report, which is still published to this day.

She went on to become the most visible and effective opponent of the ERA as the organizer of the "Stop ERA" movement, widely credited with its eventual defeat. Schlafly argued that the amendment would actually take away important family rights for women, such as automatic child custody in the case of divorce and weaken punishments for Censored pages committed towards women. It would also make young women subject to the military draft. For her actions she was widely vilified by younger generation feminists, who denounced her as a weak and subservient housewife who personified everything the feminist movement was seeking to overcome. At the time Schlafly began campaigning, the amendment had already been ratified by 30 of the 38 necessary states. Schlafly was ultimately able to orchestrate a large campaign of grassroots support for her cause, however, and in 1982, after much campaigning, the amendment was narrowly defeated, only earning 35 states' approval. Over 20 years later, Schlafly continued to testify against any revival of the ERA.

Today she is a widely-published author and commentator, and the founder and president of the Eagle Forum . Schlafly is the author of twenty books, mostly on a variety of conservative political topics (though she has also taken an interest in child care and phonics education). She continued to hold sway within the Republican Party and was one of several activists responsible for the extremely socially conservative language in the Republican National Convention's 2004 platform.

She was married to the late John Fred Schlafly. She has six children. In 1992, gay activist Michelangelo Signorile outed her son John as homosexual. John confirmed Signorile's accusations and then returned to his private life (in later years he worked as a lawyer for Eagle Forum). In 1996 Signorile chased her around the Republican National Convention and asked her how she could both love her gay son and support such an anti-gay atmosphere. She responded, "Go! Shoo! I'm not putting up with this, I'm just not! Why can't you people just leave me alone?"

Books written

External links

  • Phyllis Schlafly http://www.phyllisschlafly.com/ official site



Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01