Gloria Allred: Ambulance Chaser of 'Feminism'

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4. My first-hand experience with Gloria Allred:

I was working in the newsroom of a large L.A. station and she was one of five featured commentators whose pieces ran one per day on weekdays. So you'd see her in the building every week when she'd come in to record. There was this state legislator who had been in the news for various political reasons and because he was out there making appearances on local TV and radio and being interviewed, he was making another kind of "news." Word started circulating that he was rather the horndog who'd hit on damn near anything with two X-chromosomes, so if you (female) spotted him in the hallway, go hide or bury yourself in a small crowd of coworkers/witnesses. At one thankfully brief but insane point he actually had me bent over backwards, over the top of a teletype machine in the newsroom - obviously nobody else was around at that hour. Hey, you haven't lived.

Anyway, I had access to Gloria Allred and every now and then we'd exchange pleasantries. I asked to interview her and during the interview she talked about lots of other stories, not just the high-profile ones. Off-mic she told me that everywhere she went, inevitably there'd be one or more women who'd slip her a note as they'd pass each other in the halls - because there was SO MUCH sex discrimination going on. Allred told me she kept this stuff confidential unless the note-passer specifically told her otherwise. She said this happened all the time, all over town. It was during the '70s, a dicey time because women were just starting to get hired in the market, so we collectively brought a whole new ethic and set of considerations into the workplace. It was a genuine "Brave New World" in what had previously been all-male territory. And of the many issues that came up, nobody knew how to handle them. Women generally shared the feeling that even though we'd broken through the hiring barrier through hard work that made it well-deserved, we were still negotiating from a position of weakness. Allred felt solidarity was important for women in the workplace. She felt we had to stand up for ourselves and our rights, and it was always better to stand up together in numbers.

There came a time later on in which I was rather abruptly replaced - by a guy - under some really sexist and humiliating circumstances. It was AWFUL!!! One of the ickiest moments in my then-fledgeling career!!! I forget how, but I saw Gloria Allred again. And I sorta poured out my heart to her about what had happened. She asked to take me to lunch. She treated me to a great meal at an elegant restaurant, sat there at the table and listened to me and comforted me, and talked to me. She shared more of her own experiences and how she felt it was important to be a hard-ass and really fight this shit, especially since women tended not to have as many allies as the men they'd be up against, back then. She said I had a really strong case. She said she would be glad to help me with it if I wanted to pursue it. She also said she would do nothing about it unless I asked her to, and that she'd always keep the details in confidence in any event. She was utterly supportive and graceful, and intense. Sort of always on a mission. And I will NEVER forget that.

It was an awful, miserable, humiliating, nerve-wracking, unstable, isolating, and frightening time for me - especially since, among other indignities, I'd also been threatened with blackballing if I tried to make an issue of it. It was a very vulnerable time in my early career when I felt, professionally, very alone, especially since there weren't many other women on staff there even to talk to. Hell, in the climate inside that station at the time, everybody was nervous and somewhat paranoid. And dammit, she was there for me if I needed her, and even when I decided I'd rather move on and put it behind me. It amazed me that somebody this high-profile would reach out to me like this. She was there at the exact time I needed somebody gutsy willing to stand there with me, even if only for moral support. She never followed up, either, or tried to ambulance-chase. She left it completely alone.

And so it's been, lo these - what? Thirty-some-odd years later? I can't even count that high anymore.

Say what you will about Gloria Allred. She was there for me at a bad time and asked nothing of me. She'll always be aces with me.