The presidential election outcome, while disappointing millions of women (although it pleased some), offers a great opportunity for those who yearn for full gender equality. To women unhappy about the election outcome, I say: Don’t agonize. Organize! Now is the time to galvanize women to pursue a long-deferred dream: the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Ironically, the ERA is a popular cause, although it’s little known. Recently the ERA Coalition/ Fund for Women’s Equality released a poll finding near-universal support for amending the U.S. Constitution to include protections for women. The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” How can anyone disagree with those simple words? In fact, virtually everyone does agree.
Ninety-four percent of Americans polled said they would support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees equal rights for men and women. This extraordinary level of support was expressed by 90 percent of men and 96 percent of women polled. And when identified by political party, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all overwhelmingly support the amendment: 97 percent of Democrats, 90 percent of Republicans, and 92 percent of Independents. That’s extraordinary.
“In research terms this is as close to unanimous as support could possibly be,” says Dan Goldstein, CSO of db5 – the market research firm that conducted the poll, “there’s nothing 94 percent of Americans agree on – except this issue, it would seem.”
Even though the Equal Rights Amendment is extremely popular, it is virtually invisible. Eighty percent of those polled mistakenly believe that men and women are already guaranteed equal rights in the U.S. Constitution. However, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia explained: “Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t.”
When they convene in January, North Carolina legislators will have an opportunity to consider ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. As they did in the 2015 session, Sen. Floyd McKissick and Rep. Carla Cunningham will introduce ERA legislation. Although the previous measures had bipartisan support, the respective committees refused even to conduct hearings on the issue. It is way past time for us to be heard.
Nine major women’s organizations in North Carolina joined together this year to form the new ERA-NC Alliance, dedicated to making the ERA part of the U.S. Constitution. It is connected to the national ERA Coalition. The alliance will hold our first business meeting in Raleigh on Monday, March 13, in conjunction with the biennial Women’s Advocacy Day at the General Assembly the next day. Individual supporters are encouraged to join the alliance.
Women and men who believe the Constitution should guarantee equality, regardless of gender, can support action on the ERA in several ways:
• Contact their state legislators and urge them to cosponsor the legislation.
• Join the new ERA-NC Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of many statewide organizations. For information, go to www.era-nc.org.
• Become informed on the issue at the above website; and also at www.ratifyera-nc.org and www.equalrightsamendment.org.
• Discuss the ERA with friends and neighbors.
The right time is now. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”
Roberta Madden, a longtime ERA activist, is co-director of RATIFY ERA-NC and serves as co-chair of the ERA-NC Alliance. She lives in Black Mountain.
