The famous feminist appears at USF, the Columbia Restaurant and an Ybor City concert.
By JANET ZINK
Published October 4, 2004
TAMPA - At 70 years old, Gloria Steinem cannot be considered the poster child for punk rock music.
But that didn't stop the famous women's rights activist from partnering with Punkvoter.com, a Washington, D.C., collective of punk bands campaigning against President Bush.
Punkvoter.com invited Steinem to join it in Tampa on Sunday for a concert stop at an Ybor City club. But before taking the stage with the bands Anti-Flag, Strike Anywhere and others, she swung by a Michael Moore rally at the University of South Florida and spoke at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser at the Columbia Restaurant.
"This is the most antireproductive freedom president we've ever had," Steinem said.
As evidence, she pointed to Bush's decisions to spend millions on "abstinence only" sex education, restrict access to the morning-after pill that prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex, and prohibit countries that receive U.S. aid from talking about abortion.
She hopes to mobilize women who normally don't vote to get out and vote for Sen. John Kerry.
"He is a good person with a good heart and a good head," Steinem said of Kerry. "He's always been a feminist."
She also praised his environmental record.
According to polls, Steinem said, 65 percent of single women between the ages of 18 and 65 oppose Bush.
"If those 22-million women had voted (in the last election) at the rate of married women, Bush would not be in office," she said.
Steinem will be back in Florida several more times this month for Kerry rallies organized by Planned Parenthood, said Stephanie Grutman, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood.
This year, for the first time, Planned Parenthood's political arm has endorsed a presidential candidate, Grutman said.
"Women's health care is on the line in this election," she said.
More than 200 people, mostly women, turned out for the fundraiser. They included Alex Sink, a retired banking executive and wife of former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride; former state Sen. Helen Gordon Davis; and Phyllis Busansky, a Democratic Executive Committee member and former Hillsborough County commissioner.
Stormy Rich, a 21-year-old Florida State University student, said she and two friends drove from Tallahassee to spend just a few hours in Tampa so they could see and hear "the greatest woman in the world."
"We couldn't pass up this opportunity," Rich said. "If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have the rights we have. And with Bush in office, we're still fighting for the same things."
