Women Take the Wheel

We're saving America up and down the ballot

I was nervous this week going into the debate, knowing Harris would be held to much higher standards than Trump, because she is a woman and because the media has apparently accepted that Trump’s bar is just set at “deranged conspiracy theory rapist.” It was a huge relief to watch her completely dominate, from the handshake to the traps to the spiraling end. I loved all the post-debate memes flipping the sexist script on its head—maybe he is too emotional to be president, lol. The Trump signs in Greenville have been thin on the ground, so while I doubt the state will follow Georgia’s lead any time soon and become purple, at the very least, hopefully most people are too embarrassed to publicly display their support.

Thanks to new friend Lisel for this one. Also when Republicans are trying to weaponize “post-birth abortions” they’re talking about pallative care for dying newborns, ffs what monsters.

Speaking of embarrassing, our District 4 house representative William Timmons is so confident that he’s going to win that he seems to be doing nothing to get reelected. Continuing the trend of women being the only competent option, Kathryn Harvey is running circles around him in fundraising and events. We have our Harvey sign up in the yard, hope you’ll consider supporting her campaign. Timmons is polling really poorly, and Harris’s campaign is transferring a lot of money to down ballot races. Combine this with the fact that more women than men turn out to vote, locally and nationally, maybe we can pull out a miracle and send someone competent to Washington to represent our interests. Timmons is nepo baby garbage and he does not care about women (I’m sure his ex-wife would agree).

In some good news, the SC Supreme Court decided to hold the legislature accountable to our state constitution and threw out the private school voucher scheme that would have diverted $90 million from the state public education budget to private schools. In South Carolina there are very few secular private schools, so Weaver and her Christian nationalist buds are very clearly attempting to defund secular public schools (schools already woefully underfunded) and prop up what they see as the correct form of education—Christian education.

This is reflected in the book ban regulation that she recently pushed through with no legislative approval. This ban is so broad (one of the worst in the nation) that it bans all books in all schools with ANY sexual content (even in the high schools). Weaver and her minions are on a Puritanical tear to erase any representation of human sexuality from our schools, bad news in a state with a dismal record of sex education. The regulation bans all sexual content as defined by this state code:

CHAPTER 15 Offenses Against Morality and Decency

ARTICLE 3 Obscenity, Material Harmful to Minors, Child Exploitation, and Child Prostitution

SECTION 16-15-305(C)(1) (C) As used in this article: (1) "sexual conduct" means:

(a) vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse, whether actual or simulated, normal or perverted, whether between human beings, animals, or a combination thereof;

(b) masturbation, excretory functions, or lewd exhibition, actual or simulated, of the genitals, pubic hair, anus, vulva, or female breast nipples including male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal or covered male genitals in a discernably turgid state;

(c) an act or condition that depicts actual or simulated bestiality, sado-masochistic abuse, meaning flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a costume which reveals the pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or female breast nipples, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of the one so clothed;

(d) an act or condition that depicts actual or simulated touching, caressing, or fondling of, or other similar physical contact with, the covered or exposed genitals, pubic or anal regions, or female breast nipple, whether alone or between humans, animals, or a human and an animal, of the same or opposite sex, in an act of actual or apparent sexual stimulation or gratification; or

(e) an act or condition that depicts the insertion of any part of a person's body, other than the male sexual organ, or of any object into another person's anus or vagina, except when done as part of a recognized medical procedure.

So we’re good if it’s a male nipple being caressed, great. The amount of crushing work this will require of staff, teachers and librarians will drive people out of these jobs in South Carolina—they are having to go through EVERY BOOK line by line to get approval.

It’s all completely ridiculous, both to assume that publishers are printing books with age inappropriate sexual content, and to assume that children shouldn’t be learning about sex and sexual identity in schools. Way to alienate kids from their bodies, perpetuate shame and set them up as easier targets for predators. Ellen Weaver and Moms For Liberty, you all are harming children with these policies. It’s an absolute disgrace, and I wish more people in the districts and legislature and the Department of Education would stand up for what’s right. Hopefully she’s not reelected in 2026.

The South Carolina ACLU is bringing a lawsuit challenging the new law banning transgender medical care that is one of the most restrictive in the country. It has essentially shut down care in the state even for adults. Courageous individuals and doctors are standing up against it in the suit, and

Emily Mayer

covers it in

The Arena

.

ACLU Files Lawsuit to Defend Trans South Carolinians

Savannah Moss continues her excellent coverage of women and politics in the Upstate in her article here. When I moved here from Oregon in 2012, I was lamenting the loss of vote by mail that made it so easy to be an informed voter. I quickly realized how many white women in the South secretly vote and support Democrats, though, and now I think that privacy of the polling place might be a real advantage. Remember to register to vote in South Carolina by October 4^th. And if you want to pop into the polls without your family, early voting starts October 21^st (find early voting polling locations and just swing by to cast your ballot).

I know there is a lot of uncertainty and misogyny out there (wow Vance is really doing his part, isn’t he?), but this is also a moment in American history where women have unprecedented power and are deciding to weld it. Kudos to Taylor Swift for driving up the voter registration numbers by hundreds of thousands, and counting. And hats off to the women candidates that already have way too much on their plates with kids and jobs but who are STILL running to make this country great again. And kudos to American women who will vote to save our democracy.