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To the Editor:

Progressive Women of Greater Hartford (ProWo), a grassroots network of more than 200 women activists in the Greater Hartford area, is hosting a peaceful street theater demonstration called “Words that Matter” in Blue Back Square on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Words that Matter is a high-energy, call-and-response demonstration that calls attention to the Federal Government’s chilling act of censorship that bans over 350 words and phrases from federal agency websites, contracts, and proposals. These include words that reference diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also universal terms such as “mental health,” “clean water,” “science-based,” or even “women.”

Using any of the 350+ banned words in a government contract, proposal, or report can lead to extra scrutiny and even cause a project to lose funding or a contract to be cancelled. This creates an alarming effect, making government workers and contractors in areas like energy, medicine, and climate science afraid they could lose their jobs if they use forbidden words.

The street theater emphasizes that words do matter. The words that have been banned represent facts, values, and principles ProWo believes in. Most people are not even aware these words have been stricken, and people of all political stripes are astonished and outraged when they hear that even words like “community” and “neighborly” and “peanut allergies” are on the list.

You can see more of the banned words here: https://pen.org/banned-words-list/

We invite the community to come out and support these demonstrations. We would appreciate an enthusiastic crowd!

Additional Words that Matter actions will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays, Sept. 20, Oct. 4, Oct. 18, Nov. 8, and Nov. 15 at Blue Back Square.

Jane Zande
Progressive Women of Greater Hartford
West Hartford