It’s being resurrected again.

E-R-A. The Equal Rights Amendment. Guess what Mormon women?

It’s back and we have ties to this issue. As Mormon Feminists we need to pay attention to this…. why?

Here’s what it says:



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.

Crazy huh? Not really, it’s pretty straight forward. This is an issue we need to be talking about as Mormon women.

Last week (June 22) Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) re-introduced the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA currently has 160 co-sponsors in the House, including Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), Chair of the Congressional Women’s Caucus.

Ms. Magazine reports:

Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal spoke at a press conference today announcing the bill’s re-introduction, stating, “Women and men deserve and need full equal rights. Without constitutional equality, too many women, and thereby too many families, are cheated. Americans overwhelmingly support constitutional equality. It is time- in fact, it’s long overdue- for us to move forward. That’s why the Feminist Majority and other women’s organizations are this year going to score co-sponsorship of the ERA as a yes vote for constitutional equality for women; failure to co-sponsor will be on record as a vote against women’s constitutional equality. It is simple as that-do you value women as full equal citizens under the law or not?” The National Organization for Women will also score whether or not a Member of Congress supports the ERA.

Before we cast too many stones, please, (please!) educate yourself on the role the LDS church played in shutting this down. This is a great rundown of our involvement if you have an hour: Martha Sontagg Bradley, author of Pedestals and Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights — discusses her research into the LDS church’s opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. Most LDS historians and feminists credit this amazing series of events as the major impetus for the Mormon feminist activism that emerged in the 1980s and early 1990s.

I don’t watch the Rachel Maddow show, but a friend sent me this clip and I think she does a great job talking about this issue and it even contains clips from our LDS predecessors:

