The late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink was honored Friday by three women who have followed her path.
On the 10th anniversary of Mink’s death in 2002, U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Honolulu City Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard remembered the Hawaii icon as a tireless fighter for equal rights.
The event was held near a baseball diamond at Ala Wai Park in recognition of Mink’s signature achievement: Title IX, a 1972 provision in federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in college academics and sports.
Mink, who died at 74 from pneumonia, was an uncompromising liberal who broke barriers as the first Asian-American woman to practice law in Hawaii and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress.
"We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us, and one of the broadest and strongest shoulders belong to our friend Patsy T. Mink," said Hirono, D-Hawaii, who is running for U.S. Senate against former Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican.
Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, who is up for re-election against former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, a Republican, in urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District, said Mink entered the law and politics in the 1950s during a time when women and Japanese-Americans faced discrimination. "She was the one who blazed that trail for us," she said.
Gabbard, a Democrat who faces homeless handyman Kawika Crowley, a Republican, to replace Hirono in rural Oahu and the neighbor islands’ 2nd Congressional District, did not know the Maui-born Mink personally, but said the seat "will always be Patsy’s seat."
"People on every island have talked to me, and reminded me, how Patsy fought for them, that they felt empowered because they knew that Patsy had their back," she said.
Asked how they thought Mink would have responded to national debates this year over abortion rights and equal pay, Hirono and Hanabusa said it was Mink’s nature to keep fighting.
"She is looking down upon us, saying to all of us, ‘You go, girls!’" Hirono said.
Hanabusa said Mink would likely be on the House floor, blasting her opponents. "I think the one thing she would tell us here is that the job is not done," she said. "The job is just not done. And that for every step forward, you know, they seem to shove us back."
