Be a Model Man

Dear President Trump,

We come to you as a group of citizens – activists and legislators, artists and writers, fathers, sons, and husbands. We happen to be men – men who believe in gender equality. We don’t speak for women. We raise our voices with them. We’re calling on you to show us all that you are a man who believes in women’s equality and opposes discrimination and violence of all kinds by men against women and girls.

During the campaign, you said, “Nobody has more respect for women than I do.” Yet, you have said and done things that many people consider to be disrespectful. As men who believe manhood is not about disrespecting women, we call on you to make amends and to set a new tone.

The United States has long been a global leader in promoting women’s empowerment and it should continue to be one – at home and abroad. Women deserve equal pay, affordable high-quality childcare and reproductive health services, and paid family and medical leave for mothers and fathers so we can all care for our children. And, we need to expand our work nationally and internationally to ensure that no woman or girl is harassed, beaten, or raped.

On January 21 more than two million women marched in the United States and in cities around the world. Women marched who are deeply concerned that women’s rights will no longer be seen as human rights, who fear for their own – and for their families’ – futures. As a group of men who believe in full equality for women, we, and many thousands of other men, marched with them.

We call on you now to take a stand as our President and to state and demonstrate unambiguously that you will champion the rights of all women: immigrant women, women of diverse religious faiths, and of all sexual orientations and identities, indigenous women, women of color, women with disabilities, women who are economically impoverished, and women who are survivors of violence.

As a group of men who believe in women’s rights, and who fight for them in our personal and professional lives, we call on you to show the country and the world that you too are a man who abhors violence of all kinds against women and girls, and who champions equality. Through your words and your actions as President, you have the power to make positive change.

Show us that nobody has more respect for women and girls than you do. Show us that you are a man of quality who believes in equality. Show us that you agree that men need to speak out and stand up against inequality and violence against women. Show us that you will #BeAModelMan.

Signed,