Bastard Nation finds its voice
07/04/22 • 35 min
In the early 1900s, birth records of children given up for adoption were sealed and confidential, an effort to shield mothers and children from the societal shame of being born out of wedlock. Fast forward to the advent of the Internet, and adopted adults used the power of the web to form online networks connecting the community, and as helpful as these support groups were, adoptees still lacked the legal protections to access their birth records.
Groups like Bastard Nation helped its members navigate access to birth records, as well as fight the stigma of adoption altogether. It was out of this radical group that the very intimate issue of adoption made its way to the ballot box, begging the question, what are the limits of making the personal, political? This episode explains how this initiative addressed the social stigma around adoption and addresses the longstanding debates around the power of ballot initiatives.
Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.
Resources
Measurable Rights documentary by Paul Fornier/Storm Rock Films
Adoption Politics by E. Wayne Carp
In the early 1900s, birth records of children given up for adoption were sealed and confidential, an effort to shield mothers and children from the societal shame of being born out of wedlock. Fast forward to the advent of the Internet, and adopted adults used the power of the web to form online networks connecting the community, and as helpful as these support groups were, adoptees still lacked the legal protections to access their birth records.
Groups like Bastard Nation helped its members navigate access to birth records, as well as fight the stigma of adoption altogether. It was out of this radical group that the very intimate issue of adoption made its way to the ballot box, begging the question, what are the limits of making the personal, political? This episode explains how this initiative addressed the social stigma around adoption and addresses the longstanding debates around the power of ballot initiatives.
Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.
Resources
Measurable Rights documentary by Paul Fornier/Storm Rock Films
Adoption Politics by E. Wayne Carp
Previous Episode
Equal rights, not special rights
Christian conservatives in Ohio used the ballot initiative in the 1990s to restrict protections for LGBTQ folks in the workplace. The community fought back—how else? With their own initiative. In 1992, when anti-gay legislation was sweeping the U.S., Citizens for Community Values, one of the most active Christian right organizations in Cincinnati, seized on the opportunity to propose their own discriminatory campaign, Equal Rights, Not Special Rights.
As pro-LGBTQ lawyers, activists and advocates rallied across the city to repeal the initiative, they soon realized that they not only had to be well-versed in grassroots mobilization, they needed to nail the timing to be successful—and as always, having powerful allies always helps. In this episode, Jenna Spinelle examines how this anti-LGBTQ ballot initiative gained momentum in the 1990’s, and analyzes the societal cues and shifting status quo that eventually made a repeal against the discrimination ban possible.
Note: Roger Asterino, who you'll meet in this episode, responded to our request for an interview after production on this episode was finished. Jenna had an amazing conversation with him that we'll release as a bonus episode at the end of the season.
Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.
Resources
Kimberly Dugan's book: The Struggle Over Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Rights. Facing Off in Cincinnati.
The Buckeye Flame - Ohio's LGBTQ news source
Next Episode
A matter of life and death
For decades in Nebraska, people would gather in the parking lot of state prisons to tailgate executions of prisoners on death row. A new crop of state legislators decided to put a stop to the death penalty, but the state’s residents—and its governor—had other plans, and used a ballot initiative to achieve them.
We often think of public policy as having the best interests of society, but given the chance, do individuals vote on what is valued in their communities, or their own personal beliefs? Until now, we’ve explored how people have come together to make changes their lawmakers won’t, but in this episode, we explore another pivotal angle of ballot initiatives.
Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.
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