Anissa Rasheta is a married Mormon stay-at-home mother of three who lives in east Mesa, never misses her kid's cross country meets, and makes dinner every night.

She’s also an advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, heading up Mormons for ERA in Arizona, a group about 50 members strong, and serving on the board of ERA Task Force AZ, a coalition of groups lobbying for passage.

Rasheta knows advocating for the ERA puts her at odds with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She could face consequences for speaking out.

“I’d be willing to take them,” she said. "I’m a good person so I’m not worried about it."

Sonia Johnson, a Mormon Virginia woman who co-founded Mormons for ERA in 1977, was excommunicated in 1979.

Times have changed, Rasheta said.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported in January revisions to a temple ceremony. Women no longer promise to hearken to their husbands, who hearken directly to God, but make the same covenants, or promises, to God as men.

Rasheta doesn’t believe the ERA conflicts with her faith which teaches, “All are alike unto God.”

It’s the message she stresses when she talks to lawmakers, particularly those who are Mormon. She thinks they meet with her because of their shared faith.

“They are curious,” Rasheta said. One of the first questions they ask is, “How are you supporting this if you are Mormon?”

Support for ERA still iffy for some

Only one state is needed to cross the 38-state threshold required to put the ERA into the U.S. Constitution. Rasheta believes it could be Arizona.

Three bipartisan bills, two in the Senate and one in the House, with 33 co-sponsors, have been introduced this session.

After Rasheta met with newly elected Sen. Tyler Pace, a Mesa Republican who’s Mormon, he spent days digging into the issue. “We got him really excited about it,” she said. On Jan. 25, Pace signed as a co-sponsor of one of the bills.

Six days later, he pulled his name from the bill.

But Pace wasn't done. He invited Rasheta to join him at a public meeting on Jan. 31 in Mesa to talk about the ERA.

Pace told the 50 people in attendance that he called church leaders in Utah about the ERA. He said he was told the church, which has opposed it in the past, was neutral on the issue.

Rasheta explained the ERA would provide a clearer judicial standard for deciding cases of sex discrimination, since courts are inconsistent with such claims. “We can do better,” Rasheta said.

Younger women in the church hear her out. Older women tend to oppose it.

Equality isn't a feeling

Rasheta was like that, too. “If the church had a stance, I was done. I accepted it. I didn’t look into it,” she said.

Some concerns are moot. Abortion is legal. Gay people can marry. Women fight in combat.

They contend, “We already have all our rights,” (80 percent of Americans think the ERA already passed) or, “I feel equal.” The women often are middle to upper income and not grappling with issues of pay equity, sexual harassment or violence.

But equality is not a feeling.

In today's economy, few families can get by on one income, and 40 percent of women are the head of household. The pay gap hurts their families.

Rasheta is not surprised. Some of the loudest opponents of the suffrage movement were women.

“I’m just going to work my tail off to get this to passed, knowing that in 100 years people will wonder why the fuss,” she said.

“The energy around it is way different,” she said of the renewed debate. Women’s marches have increased donations and volunteers. Public support is high.

Until then, she'll keep talking about it.

“I’m using my voice to help my sisters,” Rasheta said. “Until all of us are equal, none of us are.”

Reach Bland at karina.bland@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8614. Read more at karinabland.azcentral.com.