The US Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the rights of all people, regardless of sex or gender.

Because the Constitution lacks this guarantee, legal systems and legislation in the US inconsistently address and protect against gender-based discrimination.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would provide clear and consistent legal protection for all people regardless of gender.

The ERA would both provide new protections and ensure that previous advancements - such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Roe v Wade - are not rolled back.

The ERA was first introduced in 1923 by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman.

For an amendment to be ratified and written in the US Constitution, it must be approved by both chambers of Congress and be ratified by 3/4 of states (38 states).

Congress approved the ERA in 1972, and then set a state ratification deadline of March 1979, which was later extended to 1982. Unfortunately, the ERA had only 35 state ratifications by the deadline, with a 38th state (Virginia) ratifying the ERA just in 2020.

Now that 38 states have ratified the ERA, we must demand that Congress extend the state ratification deadline to allow the ERA to be written into the constitution.

Senators' staff members are required to tally opinions from constituents.

Senators care about their constituents' opinions because their job depends on their constituents reelecting them.

If your senators are already planning to vote the way you want, contacting them provides them with useful data & stories to make their point.