Tanner Conley
Staff Writer
Despite the state of Wyoming branding the title on every piece of merchandise and every advertisement, one woman is proving ‘The Equality State’ to be a great misnomer.
Jennifer Simon has worn many hats along her journey to the present day. Simon is the founder of the Wyoming Women’s Action Network, a member of the Wyoming Council for Women’s issues since 2015, former Vice-President of the St. John’s Hospital Foundation in Jackson, Wyoming, recipient of the American Hospital Association’s Grassroots Award and co-founder of ‘Womentum’ a group that “aims to develop and fund innovative programs that result in social equity and social justice” according to their website; just to name a few. This is, of course, after she graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts from Colorado College and a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School.
“Right after college, I did two years of National Service—one with AmeriCorps and one with AmeriCorps*VISTA. Those two years were formative for me. The pay is, by design, consistent with the poverty wage in the community you’re working in. Your job, really, is to help communities recognize and build their own resources” Simon said, “All of those lessons—how to build coalitions, what it means to live at the poverty line, how to create community sustainability—have stayed with me and informed the work that I’ve done since then.”
So where do these achievements cross paths with the reality for women in ‘The Equality State’? According to Simon, a large problem that still needs to be addressed in Wyoming come in the form of the pay gap between women.
According to research conducted by the Wyoming Women’s Action Network, women earn 70.6 cents for every dollar a man makes in Wyoming. These figures are even more troubling when compared to the national average of women earning 80 cents per dollar earned by men.
In an article co-written with Natalia Macker, Simon states “Equal pay for equal work is the bedrock on which the Equality State was built. As Wyoming works to diversify its economy and attract new businesses, the state’s leadership — public and private — would be well-served to foreground closing the gender wage gap as a way to accomplish both.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to Simon, only 14 out of 90 Representatives and Senators are women, only 17 of 93 County Commissioners are women and there has never been a woman Sheriff.
“Wyoming was the first state to recognize women’s inherent right to vote and run for elected office. That was 1869—fully 50 years before the rest of the country—and earned us the Equality State moniker. We were the first state to elect a woman governor, the first state with a female bailiff, women on juries, and a woman on staff for a Senator. We’ve sent a woman to US Congress since 1995. Yet, we recently received a grade of D from RepresentWomen, a national nonpartisan organization that looks at equal representation in the states,” said Simon.
What is being done? Thanks to Simon, other like-minded individuals and other
organizations from around the state, new legislature and new practices are being introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives through the Gender Lens Project.
“The Gender Lens Project really comes out of an understanding that women have often been overlooked in policy discussions. Sometimes, policies that are seen as “gender neutral” have disproportionate impacts on women,” Simon said.
One example of legislation introduced through the Gender Lens project is the ‘Wage transparency’ bill. This bill would have introduced a statute that would no longer allow employers to fire employees for discussing their wages.
“Wage transparency has proven benefits for both employers and employees, but it is
especially important for women and has proven effective as a policy tool that closes the gender wage gap,” Simon said.
Unfortunately, the bill failed to be introduced by a single vote, with the final total being 39 yeas, 17 nays and three abstaining. A 2/3 majority was required for introduction.
Despite this, the future still looks bright for women in Wyoming.
“Change is absolutely in your grasp and the world needs your voice. Gen Z has unprecedented power and connectivity, and those are tools that can be leveraged to make meaningful change. Look around for other people who can help you amplify your voice and your passion” said Simon, “We need the voices of younger people, and people who work for a living, and people who have been on Medicaid or SNAP, people with disabilities, and people from minority populations. Diverse voices and personal experiences help shape better policy, policy that reflects our lived experiences as Wyomingites.”
