HISTORY OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to “guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex.” It guarantees the end of gender discrimination by law in every level of the United States. 

The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923, however, it was not passed through Congress for nearly 50 years. Each year it was introduced to Congress until the House of Representatives finally passed the Amendment in 1971, followed by the Senate in 1972. This allowed the ERA to go to individual states for ratification, with 38 of the 50 US States needed to ratify the amendment into law. Five years later, in 1977, 35 states had ratified the ERA and by 1979, Congress extended the deadline for ratification to 1982. While that deadline came and went, 3 new states have ratified the ERA since 1982. Thanks to the persistent work of so many organizers, Virginia just became the last state in 2020!

Now, Congress just needs to extend or remove the deadline and the ERA can finally be on its way to becoming law.

That is why we need #ERANow.