ERA No Time Limit on Equality

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“To guarantee equality, individual rights, and social justice for a diverse and inclusive society… [we must] advocate the passage and ratification of the Equal Rights Movement” (AAUW).

Initially proposed by Congress in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) looked to secure full equality for women. Though many Americans believe otherwise, women do not specifically have equal rights under the Constitution; the 14th Amendment explicitly states that “men” are guaranteed equality under law, not women. The ERA’s mission to work against this inequality through legislation and court decisions was slow but vital. This mission—to end gender distinctions relating to divorce, property ownership, and fair employment—failed to be ratified in 1923; it wasn’t until 1965 that legal victories (such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965) led to the codified right for women to vote.

Certainly, there is “no time limit on equality,” as women all through the US continue to fight for equal rights.