Zoe Nicholson is a feminist activist, author and a longtime member of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

. Openly lesbian, she is known for her role in the campaign for the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

Professional life and education

Nicholson earned a bachelor's degree in Roman Catholic Theology from

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Franciscan ...

in 1969 and a master's degree in ethics and religion from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1975. She taught high school for five years, but left in 1976 to open a women's bookstore in California called Magic Speller Bookstore. She has also worked as a systems analyst, production tester, and project leader on Wall Street, as well as co-founding a specialized recruiting firm offering expertise in client/server architecture and graphical design. Nicolson has a dozen websites reflecting her diverse interests, including her own blog.

Activism and writings

In 2003, Nicholson published ''The Passionate Heart'', an account of her experiences with

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. That same year, she also published ''Matri, Letters from the Mother'' which is "a small, very intimate collection of letters from the Divine Mother to the women of the world." In 2010, during a stump speech by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

for Senator

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

, she was escorted from the event by

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

when she began "yelling" about issues of equality surrounding

Don't Ask Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...

. The President, noticing the commotion, asked Nicholson "I’m sorry—do you want to come up here?" Nicolson was featured in the gay rights film ''March On'', about the National Equality March 2009, which she participated in; the film premiered September 12, 2010 at the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. She is featured in the 2022 documentary, ''Still Working 9 to 5''.

Advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment

Nicholson is a longtime proponent for the

. She marched and lectured on gender equality for seven years, at the end of which in 1982 she embarked on a fast in Springfield, Illinois with six other women to convince state legislators in Illinois to ratify the

. In 1982 she was quoted as saying, "My participation in the women's movement is my spiritual life. It's a social gospel when I act out my beliefs through the women's movement." Other women who participated in non-violent political action for the ERA in Illinois that year included Georgia Fuller,

Berenice Carroll Berenice Anita Carroll (née Jacobs; December 14, 1932 – May 10, 2018) was an American political scientist and activist specialized in peace and conflict studies, feminist theory, and women's studies. Carroll led the creation of the women's stu ...

Mary Lee Sargent Mary Lee Sargent is a feminist activist notable for her direct action political protests on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 1980s. Involvement with Grassroots Group of Second Class Citizens Sargent was a key member of the fe ...

and

Sonia Johnson Sonia Ann Johnson, (''née'' Harris; born February 27, 1936) is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of the Chur ...

. For 37 days she lived on only water. In 2004 she published her memoir of this fast, titled ''The Hungry Heart: A Woman's Fast for Justice''. She wrote a one-woman play called, "Tea With Alice and Me" about how Alice Paul has inspired and informed her activism. She is a member of the ERA Roundtable, a lifelong member of the

and a member of the

Veteran Feminists of America Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization for supporters and veterans of the second-wave feminist movement. Founded by Jacqueline Ceballos in 1992, Veteran Feminists of America regularly hosts reunions for secon ...

. In the summer of 2022, Nicholson was awarded a lifetime achievement award from NOW for her contributions to feminism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Zoe American feminist writers American spiritual writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women non-fiction writers American women's rights activists Equal Rights Amendment activists 21st-century American women American lesbian writers National Organization for Women National Organization for Women people