LPR alum Jennifer Schubert-Akin calls clampdown on restaurants the real “war on women”
Jennifer Schubert-Akin, LPR Class of 2006 and LPR’s 2013 Leader in Action Award winner, is CEO and Chairman of The Steamboat Institute.
The Denver Gazette has published an op-ed by LPR alum Jennifer Schubert-Akin (class of 2006) titled “Restaurant closures in Colorado and beyond–the real ‘war on women.'” Here are excerpts from Jennifer’s article:
“For years, the mainstream media have claimed that there’s a “war on women.” This conjecture — based on a misleading and largely debunked “gender pay gap” — has been more rhetoric than reality. Yet, now that there is an actual war on women being waged in the form of government closures of restaurants, which disproportionately employ women, the media is mostly silent. These devastating restaurant stories must be told to encourage government bureaucrats to find a compromise to allow some in-person dining before women’s entrepreneurial dreams and livelihoods are gone.
“Throughout the country, state and local officials have recently banned in-person dining in an effort to reduce COVID-19 transmission. More than 30 Colorado counties have been moved into the “red” restrictions tier, which forbids indoor dining.
“There’s little evidence that responsible restaurants, however, are greater transmission vectors than retail outlets, whose “essential” status allows them to avoid the gangplank. According to contact tracing data, bars and restaurants in New York account for just 1.4% of the state’s COVID-19 cases. (Private gatherings make up nearly 75% of cases.)
“While these restaurant restrictions result in little gain, they cause immense pain, especially for women. According to a recent survey, nearly one-quarter of Colorado restaurants will shut down within a month without in-person dining. This dire situation was spelled out in compelling and painful detail in a letter to the Routt County Commissioners from a Steamboat Springs restaurant owner forced to lay off 90% of her workforce just before the holidays to comply with these restrictions. Such eateries cannot remain profitable operating only on a takeout and delivery shoestring…”
Read Jennifer’s entire op-ed on The Steamboat Institute’s website…