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Thirty-five years after she straddled an enemy cannon in defiance of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda has vets in a frenzy about a visit to Palm Beach for a fund-raiser next week. Some of the 7,000-plus members of the American Legion in Palm Beach, Martin and Okeechobee counties were expecting to be called to picket Tuesday's luncheon of the YWCA at The Breakers. The silver-screen legend is scheduled to speak before 300-plus, who plunked down 300 bucks each for the Y's shelter for battered women, Harmony House. Cops and hotel honchos were preparing. But just...

It appears only one side of the abortion debate was allowed.   Shannon Nixson, a case manager and graduate student, was fired this month from the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati after she invited a pro-life speaker to address pregnant women at the club. Nixson said she was allowed to recruit speakers on both sides of several other issues, but only one view of the abortion debate was welcomed. Nixson asked a representative of Life Issues Institute to present a pro-life perspective during a seminar on employment and literacy. “Within the next couple of days, I was told that I was terminated,...

Amanda Simpson was recognized last week by the YWCA as one of a dozen local Women on the Move. That's more than a personal accomplishment for the 43-year-old senior principal systems engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems. It's also a personal victory, since Simpson is a transgendered woman who very publicly allowed the media to recount her transition from Mitchell Simpson four years ago. "To say that I was absolutely thrilled is a bit of an understatement," Simpson said. She was selected from a pool of 89 finalists for the award, which gives the nod to women who are committed to...

MAN KICKED OUT OF THE YMCA FOR EVANGELIZING Living Waters via www.RepentAmerica.com July 9, 2004 We, Living Waters, wanted to bring to your attention a recent incident that took place with one of our ministry partners, Larry Lee, who lives in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. As you read his account, we are confident that you will see the unacceptable and unfair manner in which he has been treated by the YMCA. More importantly we are confident that you will agree with us in concluding that Larry's civil and religious rights have been violated. This concerns us because it...

What has happened to the organizations for young people that were supposed to reflect -- even advocate -- our Judeo-Christian ideals? Take, for instance, the Girl Scout Promise. It states, “On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.” Then there is the statement for the Young Men's Christian Association that asserts the organization's mission is: "To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all." Recently there were two instances that demonstrated the loss of...

<p>NEW YORK — Convinced that the mandatory policy of female-only leadership is no longer sound, some of the YWCA's most vibrant affiliates are taking steps to admit men as members and directors — a challenge that could either transform or fracture the 145-year-old organization.</p>

"Feminists across the country are outraged that ultra-conservative attacks could have resulted in former NOW President Patricia Ireland's recent dismissal as the CEO of the YWCA," said current National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy. The YWCA in public statements has neither confirmed nor denied speculation that Ireland's termination after just six months on the job was the result of a groundswell of objection from YWCA donors and conservative groups. Instead, the 144-year-old Young Women's Christian Association has said that Ireland's firing was a private personnel matter and that she was not a good fit for the post of...

The feminist leader Patricia Ireland has been dismissed as chief executive of the Y.W.C.A. less than six months after she was hired to head it. Ms. Ireland was notified of the decision on Thursday in New York, where she was attending a conference. She said in an interview on Monday that members of the national coordinating board of the Y.W.C.A. had asked for her resignation, but she declined because she did not want to give the impression that she had "jumped ship." "I was uncharacteristically speechless," Ms. Ireland said. "There had been no notice." Her dismissal was first reported in...

Everyone seems to agree that conservatives are responsible for the firing of pro-abortion activist Patricia Ireland as head of YWCA of the U.S.A. after only six months. YWCA (which used to stand for Young Women's Christian Association until the "C" word became a no-no) asked for her resignation, the New York Times reported today. She refused because she did not want to give the impression she had "jumped ship." "I was uncharacteristically speechless," Ireland said. "There had been no notice." A former head of the Democrat group that calls itself National Organization for Women, she says right-wingers opposed her from...

WASHINGTON (AP)--Patricia Ireland, a prominent women's rights advocate, has been dismissed after six months as chief executive of the YWCA of the U.S.A. Dorris Daniel-Parkes has been named interim director by the National Coordinating Board of the YWCA, the organization said. ``We have the deepest admiration for Ms. Ireland's dedication to women's issues and social justice, but the YWCA has proved to be the wrong platform for her to advocate for these issues,'' board chairwoman Audrey Peeples said in a press release. A spokesman for the YWCA did not immediately return a phone call Monday night about the dismissal Thursday,...

Just heard on the radio this morning that the YWCA sacked Ireland. The reason was something about the YWCA being the wrong organization to further her political causes or something to that effect. It was a very short piece and that's all the info I have on it for now. Can anyone find more detail? By the way, yes, it did make my day. Now if only the National Girl Scouts would only come to their sences. Ciao, Fightin Kentuckian

Feminist leader Patricia Ireland was removed as CEO of the YWCA on Thursday. This decision by the YWCA National Coordinating Board (NCB) comes after months of pressure by right-wing groups such as the Traditional Values Coalition. The so-called Traditional Values Coalition went so far as to write Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, asking him to review $114 million in federal grants to YWCA organizations. The group also urged its members to ask their legislators to restrict funding to the organization, which, through its 302 local YWCAs, provides child care, domestic violence services, employment training, and other programs...

Political correctness is breaking the hearts of thousands of little girls -- and their daddies are having a hard time explaining why multicultural hypersensitivity is more important than their daughters' innocent fun. Beginning this month, the YMCA's Indian Princesses organization will cease to exist. The group was inspired by Harold Keltner, a St. Louis YMCA director, who teamed up with a Canadian Ojibway Indian in 1926 to create a unique outdoors club for dads and children. Joe Friday, Keltner's good friend, fishing partner and hunting guide, spoke to YMCA members in Missouri about American Indian culture and the importance of...

WASHINGTON — It was Patricia Ireland's first day on the job as chief executive of the YWCA, but officials around the country were already receiving complaints about her leadership. The venerable women's organization announced April 30 that it had chosen Ireland, 57, the former longtime president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), as part of an effort to "brand" the YWCA as a high-profile advocacy organization on issues of gender and race. Ever since, her appointment has been branded a sacrilege by Christian conservative activists. "If they wanted a lightning rod, they got it," said Andrea Lafferty, director of...

So the Young Women's Christian Association – the YWCA – has named Patricia Ireland, former head of the National Organization for Women, its new president. Many have expressed outrage at the hiring of Ms. Ireland, assuming her ideology is foreign to current YWCA initiatives. But if one looks at the agenda of NOW and the history of the YWCA since around 1900, unfortunately, the hire makes a lot of sense. First, a brief look at NOW. Their self-identified victories include organizing "record-breaking crowds for protests on issues such as violence against women and abortion rights;" electing "record numbers of feminist...

Patricia Ireland's Not-So-New JobBy Kimberly SchuldFrontPageMagazine.com | May 13, 2003 Patricia Ireland has a new job. The former president of the National Organization for Women will soon be the new chief executive officer of the YWCA. For those unfamiliar with the contemporary focus of the Young Women’s Christian Association, it will come as a shock to find that the agenda of NOW under Ireland’s tenure is eerily similar to the agenda already employed by the YWCA. To this point, all the YWCA has been lacking is a nationally-known radical feminist to alert an unsuspecting public to its true agenda, and...

Dear Conservative Friend: The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) has made the horrible choice of Patricia Ireland as the next head of this girl's organization. A better leader must be chosen -- or the "C" may as well be changed from Christian to stand for "cross dressing." Please go to Conservative- Petitions.com and read what is at stake. Here's the address: http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petitions/php?id=191 Ireland is likely to finalize the YWCA's evolution into a radical feminist and pro-homosexual organization that will promote abortion on demand, cross-dressing, lesbianism and other sexually deviant behaviors. She is the former leader of the National Organization for...

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." – II Timothy 3:3 (KJV) Some people were shocked by the recent news that a philandering bisexual, radical feminist, abortion crusader was selected as the new president of the Young Women's...

<p>Patricia Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, was named Wednesday as the new chief executive of the YWCA of the U.S.A.</p> <p>Ireland, 57, says she plans to bring new energy into the 145-year-old organization, increasing its national prominence and political activism.</p>

(CNSNews.com) - Patricia Ireland, the woman who presided over the National Organization for Women (NOW) for a decade and whose "major contributions included organizing NOW activists to defend women's access to abortion," has been chosen as the new chief executive officer of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). The appointment, confirmed by CNSNews.com, immediately drew criticism from cultural conservatives. Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, called the Ireland appointment "disgusting," pointing to reports that Ireland had carried on a homosexual relationship in Washington, D.C., while remaining married to her husband, who was living in Florida. "Here's a...

Former President of NOW Is Taking Helm at Y.W.C.A. By THE NEW YORK TIMES ASHINGTON, April 29 — Trying to breathe new life into a 145-year-old organization, the Y.W.C.A. of the U.S.A. has chosen Patricia Ireland, the outspoken former president of the National Organization for Women, to be its new chief executive. Ms. Ireland's appointment, to be announced on Wednesday, coincides with the Y.W.C.A.'s relocation of its national headquarters to Washington from Manhattan. "This is just an irresistible opportunity," Ms. Ireland said in an interview on Monday. "I want to be back in the public policy arena." She attributed her...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. ORANGE, Calif. - KRT NEWSFEATURES (KRT) - For 80 years, the YWCA of Central Orange County has offered a range of services to thousands of up-and-coming and down-and-out women: job training, child care, fitness programs, rape counseling and shelters for victims of domestic violence. Now those services are being farmed out to other community organizations as the YWCA chapter in Orange prepares to go out of business. Established to assist women making the transition from domestic life to factory work during the Industrial Age, the Young Women's Christian Association played a...

Even though the initials YWCA stand for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), a spokeswoman said it's been a "very, very long time" since the organization focused on promoting Christian values. "Now, the focus is on empowering women and their families," Crystal McNeal, a spokesperson for the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee, Wis., said Monday. That empowerment, she said, includes dispensing birth control bills and condoms to girls and women. Recently, the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee announced it had partnered with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to open two community-based health clinics. The unique partnership arose out of a shared desire to...