[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written and submitted by a verified resident. It represents the opinion of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of South King Media or its staff.]
BAT (Burien Actors Theatre) thanks France Giddings, the current president of Washington State NOW (National Organization for Women), and Mary Williams of NOW for leading the post-show talkback following Rebellious Women on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
They were very informative and lively speakers who also held a wide-ranging question-and-answer period. It was a spirited cap to the last evening performance of Rebellious Women, produced by BAT.
They also reminded the audience that the Driving the Vote for Equality tour (2026), which aims to collect 1 million signatures for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by retracing the 1916 suffrage road trip, featuring a restored 1914 Saxon automobile, will be in Seattle in mid-May. A little history on the drive is here and some photos of the 2026 journey are here.
Giddings and Williams also shared a few dates about women gaining suffrage in the United States:
- In 1920, white women in America gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment. While this amendment gave many women, particularly in the North, the ability to vote, it did not guarantee suffrage for all Black women, especially those in the South, who were systematically disenfranchised by poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation, effectively keeping them from the polls.
- The Voting Rights Act (1965), signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, officially abolished the legal hurdles that had prevented Black women from exercising their voting rights.
- The Voting Rights Act added Extended Protections (1975), which extended protection to language minorities, including Hispanic and Asian American women who faced barriers to voting. Just this month, the US Supreme Court completed dismantling the Voting Rights Act, so those protections for women’s voting rights are no longer applicable. Additionally, the 19th Amendment did not apply to most Native American women who were not considered citizens at that time.
- The 1924 Indian Citizenship Act gave Native Americans citizenship, but states argued that Native Americans living on reservations were not state residents, denying them the ballot. States like Arizona and New Mexico continued to deny voting rights until legal action was taken in 1948.
- Asian women did not gain the right to vote until 1943, with the passage of the Magnuson Act, which allowed Chinese immigrants to begin naturalizing as U.S. citizens. Truly broad access to American citizenship and voting rights was not available to Asians and Asian Americans until the Immigration and Nationality Acts of 1952 and 1965. These acts removed race as a barrier to immigration and citizenship, effectively ending two centuries of restrictions and legal disenfranchisement for Asian women.
– BAT Theatre
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