the fact that what have traditionally been seen as personal aspects of women's lives are in fact part and parcel of their total somar ane economic situador ror examole me nuit to chosse whether or not to have children and the ability to return to work having had them (i.e. the question of nurseries, maternity leave, abortion and contraception) are just as central as equal pay and opportunities and sex discrimination at work, Furthermore, they are also inseparable because, at the ideological level, it is the role of women in the family which determines their situation as workers - low pay, reserve about, cle Whilst it is necessary to remember that the Charter is in no way intended to be a watertight programme for the achieve. ment of women's total liberation, it does need to go a step further in this recognition by drawing attention to the fact that sexuality is also not a separate, "personal", issue. seen very clearly, in the level of discrimination against women at work specifically because they are gay.
Take the case of a student nurse, for instance, who was thrown off her course - and thus out of her career, since no other training hospital would take her afterwards - as soon as anis can be teachers who have been known to be gay have found thei couldn't get teaching jobs. There are many documented cases or women wao nave lost ten jobs because uney were iesolan although other pretexts have often been given by employers.
Then there is the frequent discrimination against gay moth ers in divorce cases. If it is known that they are lesbian, they are almost certain to lose custody and care of their children regardless of other circumstances The question of sexual preference is relevant to all-women: lesolamsm imones a social economie and sexual macoenachc which is in contradiction with and challenges the man-dependent status which is assigned to women because of their role in the 'typical' heterosexual family. It is important to extend the Charter to make it applicable to the specific discrimination against lesbians, and Ked Weekly asks all delegates to this weekend's conference to vote for the amendments proposed from the Gay Workers and Lesbian conferences and to explair the need for these amendments in their unions and groups. Anne Chesterton LCHE working class, because along will the crescendo of the right-wing SPUC and Life crusaders singing the praises of family life, they strengthen the traditional notion of women as self-sacrificing handmaidens to the never-ending demands of children and husbands. In this way the attention of the working class is directed away from the malig nant source of the crisis - the capditure italist class and their bankrupt sysFIGHT-BACK If the working class as a whole is to resist the offensive of the ruling class, then it must take no responsibility for the crisis. The fight to defend and extend women's rights is therefore an integral part