Tag ERA

Digital Sisterhood Network Launches ERA 2015 Awareness Campaign in June

Ananda Leeke Leave a comment

Alice Paul

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)  was written by Alice Paul, an American University Washington College of Law

Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

alumna, lawyer,  suffrage leader, and founder of the National Women’s Party, in 1923.  For almost 50 years, the ERA bill was introduced in every session of the United States Congress.  In May 1969, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm  spoke before the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the ERA.  In her speech, Congresswoman Chisholm stated: “What we need are laws to protect working people, to guarantee them fair pay, safe working conditions, protection against sickness and layoffs, and provision for dignified, comfortable retirement. Men and women need these things equally.”  Click here to read her speech.  Congress passed the ERA in 1972 and required that the measure be ratified by 38 states within seven years.  The deadline was extended to 1982.  Between 1972 and 1982, 35 states voted to end discrimination on the basis of sex.  In June 1982, Congress refused to extend the deadline because 38 states had not ratified the ERA.  Since then, a new constitutional amendment with the same ERA language and no deadline has been introduced in every Congressional session. Despite its introduction, the ERA has not received a hearing.

Guess what happens when women’s equal rights are not protected across all 50 states and under the U.S. Constitution? Here are a few examples.

  • Law affecting women are arbitrarily and inconsistently applied.
  • Outcomes on gender discrimination cases vary because the judicial system does not have a clear benchmark for issuing rulings.
  • Gender-related legislation that has taken many years to become U.S. law can be reversed overnight by a single vote or denied necessary appropriations.

The Digital Sisterhood Network supports women’s equal rights and the advocacy work of United 4 Equality, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based grassroots

coalition of citizens, nonprofits, and corporations committed to outlaw sex discrimination by the passage of the ERA in three additional states in order to reach the 38 states required by the U.S. Constitution.  Carolyn Cook established United 4 Equality, LLC in March 2010. Watch a video of her below.

In an effort to support United  4 Equality’s ERA 2015 Campaign, the Digital Sisterhood Network is launching its own ERA 2015 Awareness Campaign on #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays in June.  Each Wednesday the Digital Sisterhood Network will tweet about the importance of the ERA and United 4 Equality’s ERA 2015 Campaign.   So join the Twitter party on June 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.  Use the hashtags #digitalsisterhood and #ERA2015.  Also add United 4 Equality’s Twitter ID: @united4equality. See sample tweets below. Feel free to use them.

Sample ERA2015 Tweets for June 2011 #DigitalSisterhood Wednesday Twitter Parties:

FYI – You can also make a financial contribution to United 4 Equality by clicking here (see PayPal button on the front page of web site).  Thank you in advance for your generosity!