FACTBOX-Facts about U.S. conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly

09/05/2016 20:16

WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly died on Monday at 92. Following are some facts about her:

* Schlafly said she tirelessly fought against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the grounds that women were already fully protected and that the amendment would erode women's standing, leading to homosexual marriages, women in combat, government-funded abortions and loss of alimony.

She threw a party in Washington in 1982 to celebrate when the ERA proposal died, having missed its ratification deadline with approval from only 35 of the 38 required states.

* While attending Washington University in St. Louis during World War Two, Schlafly worked the night shift at an ordnance plant, firing rifles and machine guns as an ammunition tester.

* Schlafly often debated feminist leader Betty Friedan, who called her "a traitor to her sex" and said she'd like to burn her at the stake. Schlafly said Friedan was "always very ugly to deal with and debate and made it clear that she hated me."

* Schlafly was a consistent foe of gay rights even though her oldest child, John, who worked for her Eagle Forum, acknowledged he was a homosexual in 1992. "It's not a problem for anybody but the press," she said, adding that John is not a proponent of gay marriage.

* Among the decorations in Schlafly's office were a chunk of the Berlin Wall, a "Doonesbury" cartoon mocking her and a necktie from Ronald Reagan, who was her favorite president in her lifetime.

* Schlafly wrote some 20 books, including "Feminist Fantasies," "The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It," "Who Will Rock the Cradle?: The Battle for Control of Child Care in America," "Pornography's Victims," "Child Abuse in the Classroom" and "Kissinger on the Couch." (Writing by Bill Trott; editing by Diane Craft)

09/05/2016 20:16