WHAT DOES THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT SAY?
Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.”
WHAT IS THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT?
The Equal Rights Amendment, or the ERA for short, is addition to the United States Constitution to ensure equal treatment and rights to all people regardless of their gender and gender identity. This is a landmark amendment to wholeheartedly ensure the equal treatment of all people within the nation.
WHY IS THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT IMPORTANT?
The ERA is important in ensuring equality for men, women, and people outside the gender binary at a Constitutional level. In our world, present-day gender inequalities are still a major issue. For the past 60 years, many generations of individuals - young and old - have advocated and fought for the ratification of the ERA. The ERA will encourage both state legal systems and the federal legal system to disregard sex and focus purely on their experiences in a court proceeding.
WHY DO WE NEED THE ERA?
DON'T WE ALREADY HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY?
Yes and no. Although the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) guarantees that states cannot “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” that equal protection is not felt by all. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (specifically Titles VII and IX) has expanded to include LGBTQ+ individuals. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is when women of color officially got the right to vote, as people found new ways to keep them from voting after the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Although Roe v. Wade (1973) gives a Constitutional guarantee to reproductive rights, states are still trying to infringe on this right as we have seen more recently with Texas and Louisiana (whose cases made it all the way to the Supreme Court). All of the aforementioned legislation does grant more equality and protections than one would have without them, but discrimination is still present. Enacting the Equal Rights Amendment would prove to society that everyone is truly equal, and that no one can say otherwise or take any action to prove otherwise.
*Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of every piece of legislation surrounding gender equality and equity, these are simply some notable ones.*
*Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of every piece of legislation surrounding gender equality and equity, these are simply some notable ones.*
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT?
The ERA is a proposed Constitutional amendment that was originally introduced to Congress in 1923 by Alice Paul, that would dissolve legal distinctions between the sexes. Since 1923, the ERA was introduced into every session of Congress until it was passed in 1972. After passing both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Equal Rights Amendment was sent to the States for ratification. For an amendment to be ratified, 38/50 (three-fourths) states must ratify it. Congress, however, placed a deadline on ratification: seven years. By 1973, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, *Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, *Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota *Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, *South Dakota, *Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming ratified the proposed amendment. In 1974, Montana and Ohio ratified, North Dakota followed in 1975, and Indiana ratified in 1977. In 1978, Congress voted to extend the deadline from March of 1979 to June of 1982. Unfortunately, the amendment did not get added as only 35 states ratified it.
*These states have voted to rescind their ratification. However, Congress has stated that attempted withdrawals and rejections have no legal basis.
In more modern history, however, the ERA has come back into the legislative scene. In 2017, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Illinois became the 37th state in May of 2018, and Virginia became the 38th state in January of 2020. Since January, multiple bills have been introduced into Congress to remove the ratification deadline and move forward with adding the amendment to the Constitution: H.J. RES 79 and S.J. RES 6. Two bills, H.J. RES 35 and S.J. RES 15, have also been introduced to propose an equal rights amendment, simply to get the original amendment back in circulation. Click on each bill to track their progress and get more information about them.
See below for our sources, and for more information on this amendment.
*These states have voted to rescind their ratification. However, Congress has stated that attempted withdrawals and rejections have no legal basis.
In more modern history, however, the ERA has come back into the legislative scene. In 2017, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Illinois became the 37th state in May of 2018, and Virginia became the 38th state in January of 2020. Since January, multiple bills have been introduced into Congress to remove the ratification deadline and move forward with adding the amendment to the Constitution: H.J. RES 79 and S.J. RES 6. Two bills, H.J. RES 35 and S.J. RES 15, have also been introduced to propose an equal rights amendment, simply to get the original amendment back in circulation. Click on each bill to track their progress and get more information about them.
See below for our sources, and for more information on this amendment.
WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT?
Lobby, call, email, or write to your members of Congress and ask that they either begin to support or continue their support for the Equal Rights Amendment by voting "yes" on resolutions surrounding it.
Join us. Information on how to do so can be found under the "GET IN TOUCH & GET MORE INVOLVED" tab.
Check out the toolkits below. They are full of information on how to successfully advocate for the ERA!