Closing the Gap: 5 Ways to Advocate for Latina Equal Pay Year-Round

curly haired dark-skinned woman speaking to a diverse group of women

October 5th, 2023, marks how far into the new year the average Latina must work to match what the average white, non-Hispanic man made the year before. That means the average Latina must work almost an entire additional year to catch up to what an average white man made the previous year.

Now, there is no magical solution to closing the wage gap for Latina women. But if we don’t start to actively work towards doing that, it’s estimated that we won’t achieve pay equality for 200 years. It’s not even an exaggeration, as much as we wish it were.


We need to raise awareness, but at the same time, Latinas need to continue to develop the skills to get ourselves ahead. We can help change the system while helping ourselves as a collective solution to the problem. Read on for five practical ways you can start to make a difference.

Stay Informed

It can be hard to know what you should be paid when you have yet to learn what other people with similar skill sets are earning. Start by doing your research on sites like Payscale and Salary. That way, you can reference what a fair wage looks like for your position.

Now that you know what you should be getting paid, it’s crucial to learn how to demand and negotiate it. This Luz Community workshop will help you learn the right tactics to get paid equitably, influencing your boss and HR to be on your side where merit pay doesn’t exist, and provide strategies to increase your chances to get a raise with documented proof in a system where performance reviews don’t work.

Lastly, know your rights at work. Did you know it may be illegal in your state for your employer to ask about what you previously earned? Are you aware that you can file a claim under the Equal Pay Act? The better informed you are, the better you can educate those around you and advocate for equality in your workplace.

Make A Change Where You Can

If you’re an employer or in a position to make or influence decisions related to hiring personnel, you can support pay transparency by eliminating rules that prohibit workers from asking about or discussing their pay. You can ensure transparency by disclosing salary ranges in job postings, avoiding using salary history when deciding what to pay someone or whether or not to hire them, and providing clear information about bonuses and career paths for your employees.

When given the opportunity, it’s crucial that we enact change and work towards lifting up others. Even though you might’ve struggled to get there, the goal is to make other Latinas’ career paths easier, never harder!

Make Your Voice Heard and Your Vote Count

Voting for representatives taking a stand on Latina Equal Pay is crucial to change. The Latina wage gap stems from many discriminatory practices, unequal education opportunities, racial biases, and much more. It is a systemic issue that should be rooted out through policies that demand accountability and transparency.

Identifying your local elected officials and where they stand on Latina pay equality, keeping up with what they’re working on, and asking candidates running for office about their plan to close the gender and racial pay gap is a great way to give equity the attention it deserves.

Support Organizations Fighting For Equal Pay

Fighting for economic and political parity for Latinas is no easy feat. Luckily there are many organizations doing the work. Equal Pay Today is an organization seeking to eradicate the long-standing gender wage gap impacting women’s economic security, families, and communities of color. Justice for Migrant Women aims to ensure that all migrant women are guaranteed human and civil rights. Lean In is an organization advocating for better public policies and a more equitable workplace. And LCLAA is the leading national organization for Latino workers and their families, to name only a few.

There are many ways you can support these organizations in their efforts to ensure workplace equality for Latinas and other women of color. Consider donating, signing up for one of their virtual or IRL events, and keeping up with them on social media to learn more about their work.

Continue Raising Awareness

Social Media is a powerful tool that can help us spotlight important issues affecting Latina women. Luckily, there are so many ways you can advocate for #LatinaEqualPay with the tap of a finger.

  • Follow @theluzmedia on Instagram and join the conversation using the hashtag #LatinaEqualPay. You can help us spread the word by resharing our posts and editorials.
  • Have a story to share? Tag us so we can boost!
  • Start your own conversation by creating a Twitter thread. You can tag your local representatives and elected officials to ask about what they’re doing to close the gap.
  • Follow the #LatinaEqualPay hashtag on IG to stay up-to-date on news and events.

How will you choose to get involved today and year-round?

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.