The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to co-host a speech by Annie Laurie Gaylor with the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia (EHSP).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Freethought Society (FS) and the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia (EHSP) are honored in hosting a presentation by the noted and acclaimed co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation,Annie Laurie Gaylor. Gaylor’s presentation — “Why Women Need Freedom From Religion” — is based on her books Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So and Women Without Superstition: “No Gods, No Masters”. This event takes place on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 7:00 PM. Please join us in the beautiful auditorium of the EHSP building located at 1906 South Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia.
Annie Laurie Gaylor
“The Freethought Society is happy to offer an alternative activity during the Pope’s visit,” said Margaret Downey, founder and president of The Freethought Society. “We are asking that people attend to learn more and think about the tough questions on how religion affects women. With Pope Francis being in Philadelphia at the same time, Annie Laurie’s presentation couldn’t be more appropriate.”
Gaylor has traveled the world and the United States to give her many presentations at highly-respected gatherings, including one event with over 4,000 attendees. Her Philadelphia presentation takes place the night before the city goes into lock-down due to the weekend activities of Pope Francis, who is attending the World Meeting of Families 2015 forum and whose excursions around the city will cause much disruption and many restrictions in transportation for residents and businesses throughout the city and suburbs. However, this will not affect Gaylor’s Thursday night presentation as the lock-down does not take effect until after Gaylor leaves, so those wanting to attend her presentation do not have to worry about any transportation restrictions.
Annie Laurie Gaylor is a co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is a national 501(c)3 educational, legal and activist organization based in Madison, Wisconsin and is the largest association of atheists and agnostics in North America, as well as a state/church separation watchdog. She co-founded FFRF in 1976 as a college student with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor, who was asked to go national with FFRF in 1978. A 1980 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Journalism School, she was an award-winning student reporter. After graduation, she founded, edited and published the Feminist Connection, a monthly advocacy newspaper, from 1980-1985. She joined the FFRF staff in 1985. She was editor of FFRF’s newspaper, Freethought Today, from 1984 to 2009. The paper is published 10 times a year. Her book Woe To The Women: The Bible Tells Me So, first published by FFRF in 1981, is now in its 4th printing. In 1988, FFRF published her book Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children, the first book documenting widespread sexual molestation of minors by clergy. Her 1997 anthology Women Without Superstition: “No Gods, No Masters” — The Collected Writings of Women Freethinkers of the 19th and 20th Centuries, is the first collection of writings by historic and contemporary women freethinkers.
In 1976, Gaylor’s complaints ended prayers at graduations at UW-Madison, an abuse of more than 130 years. She has been a plaintiff in many successful FFRF lawsuits, starting in 1984 when she stopped the University of Wisconsin from recruiting for churches on its registration forms; the 1997 federal lawsuit ending Good Friday as a state holiday in Wisconsin; and, currently, FFRF’s litigation to overturn the parish exclusion, a federal law favoring clergy and churches that permits them to be paid with a housing allowance which is excluded from taxable income. She is married to Dan Barker, who became co-president of FFRF with her in 2004, and they have a daughter, who is college age.
Annie Laurie Gaylor’s presentation is free and open to the public, and begins at 7 PM, Thursday, September 24, in the auditorium of the EHSP Building at 1906 South Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. It is sure to be one not to be missed.
For more information, contact Margaret Downey, Freethought Society President, at 610-793-2737, or email her at Margaret@FtSociety.org.
