What Does “The Equality State” Know About Gender Equality?… Very Little, Actually
Wyoming earned its nickname, “The Equality State” for priding itself on being the first state to join the Union that allowed (white) women to vote and hold office. Women’s suffrage in Wyoming passed on December 10, 1869 while it was still considered a U.S. territory, and on September 6, 1870, Louisa Swain of Laramie, Wyoming became the first woman to cast a legal electoral ballot.
In 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first female governor elected to office after the former governor, who was also her husband, passed away. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I lived on and off for eight years, touted the first ever fully female town council elected in 1920. Mayor Grace Miller and the four female town council members — the so-called “Petticoat Rulers” — then appointed women to hold all the other municipal positions in Jackson Hole including the first ever female Town Marshal — who was only 22 years old at the time of her appointment **eye bulging emoji**.
And since a century ago, things have not much progressed in terms of gender parity. As of 2021, 17.8% of possible state congress seats were held by women…
