This document discusses the history of and need for constitutional equality and equal rights amendments at the state and federal level. It provides background on past efforts to pass an Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution from the 1920s through the 1980s, and reasons it ultimately failed to be ratified. It argues that an Equal Rights Amendment is still necessary to fully guarantee equal rights and prevent rollbacks of progress, given ongoing issues of pay inequality, reproductive healthcare access, and gender violence. Adopting state-level equal rights amendments could help solidify these protections.

1. Constitutional Equality:
State & Federal Initiatives
M. Kathleen Murphy,
Founder/Director of MN C.A.F.E. Coalition

2. Constitutional Equality:
I. History
II. Why?
III. ERA MN Strategy

4. I. History
1800’s: Constitutional Amendments
1920: Suffrage
1923: Introduction of ERA
1970’s: Trying to Ratify the 27th
Amd.
1982: Defeated / Reasons

5. 1868: 14th Amendment
(broad definition of citizenship)
Adopted after the Civil
War (July 9, 1868) as one
of the reconstruction
Amendments.
The word “male” was inserted into
the Constitution for the first time.

6. 1870: 15th Amendment
(voting rights)
The right… to vote shall
not be denied or abridged…
on account of race, color,
or previous condition of
servitude.
Note that women are excluded.

7. 1920: 19th Amendment
(women’s right to vote)
A 50 year fight
finally won women
their only
Constitutionally
guaranteed right —
the right to vote.

8. 1923: Alice Paul Proposes the
Equal Rights Amendment
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.

9. 1970’s:
Active ERA Movement
The late 1960’s and early
1970’s brought back a
resurgence of the fight for an
Equal Rights Amendment -
led by many great women,
including Gloria Steinem,
Betty Friedan and bell
hooks.

10. ’71 & ’72: Overwhelming Support
In June of 1971 the Amendment easily passed the House of
Representatives 354 to 24, and through the Senate in March
of 1972 with a vote of 84 to 8.

11. By 1977: 35 states (out of the 38 necessary) had
ratified the federal Equal Rights Amendment
Ratified
Passed in 1 body
Not ratified
MN was 26th state to ratify in
1973

12. • ERA original 7 year deadline:
June 1979
• Congress extended
deadline:
June 30, 1982

13. At the same time: 1979
• UN General Assembly adopts
CEDAW: the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women

14. (I. History continued)
What happened?
Why didn’t enough states ratify the ERA?
Why wasn’t CEDAW ratified?
What were the opponents’ arguments?
- Scare Tactics
- Insurance lobby
- Feminist Backlash
- Change in Politics

15. Scare Tactic #1
Would force women out of the home.

16. Scare Tactic #2
Men would NOT be required to
provide for their families.

17. Scare Tactic #3
forced sex integration
 Fraternities &
Sororities
 Boy Scouts & Girl
Scouts
 Same-Sex Public
Bathrooms

18. Scare Tactic #4
Women in Combat
Women soldiers are now in almost
all areas of our military. They fight
and die for our country.
What they don’t get is
medals of honor when
they die--side by side–
with the men.

19. Scare Tactic #5
false notion of ‘protected class’
So called “protective” labor laws
actually prohibit opportunity
Women were led to believe that
current law held us up on a pedestal
to ‘protect’ us from ‘hard work’.
Reality: we are still being kept from
high wage jobs for this reason.

20. Why defeated?
Insurance Lobby
Insurance Companies have millions of dollars to
spend on lobbying--and they didn’t hesitate to spend
it in Illinois, Florida and Missouri.

21. Why defeated?
Feminist Backlash
Claims made:
• Anti-family & anti-American
• Alimony & child support
laws would be ignored
• Women were not REALLY
being discriminated against

22. Why defeated?
Change in political atmosphere
The 1980 election of Ronald
Reagan meant change:
• 1st U.S. President to ever openly
oppose equal rights
• Equal rights was removed from
the Republican party platform
Constitutional rights had been supported by every
US President since Teddy Roosevelt first supported
them in 1914.

23. Now jump ahead 20 years…
2001 Public awareness poll
shows 72% of Americans
believe the “Constitution
makes it clear that male
and female citizens are
supposed to have equal
rights.”
88% replied the
Constitution SHOULD make
it clear that all citizens have
equal rights.

24. II. WHY?
So why is Constitutional Equality
still necessary?
1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.
2) No guarantee women’s rights won’t be rolled back.
3) Judicial standards need to be stricter and clearer.
4) United States needs to prove international
commitment.

25. Why necessary?
1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.
• Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Minnesota
Constitution explicitly guarantees that all of the rights it
protects are held equally by all citizens without regard
to sex.
• The only right that either Constitution
specifically affirms as equal for women
and men is the right to vote.

26. Case #1: Equal Pay for Equal Work.
Lilly Ledbetter began her career at Goodyear
Tire with the same starting salary as her co-
workers. Over 19 years in a supervisory role,
she helped to train a number of new hires (all
men) and in 1996 she received a “Top
Performer” award for her contribution to the
company.
But over time she was paid much less than all
her male counterparts.
Why necessary?
1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

27. Compared to the lowest paid male for a
random month she made $3,727 to his $4,286
- that is $.87 to his $1.00 (or 13% less)
- in a year that added up to $6,708 less --
- over 15 years $100,620 less
(assuming no increases for her or him)
Compared to the highest paid male she
made $3,727 to his $5,236
- that is $.71 to his $1.00 (or 29% less)
- in a year that added up to $18,108 less --
in 15 years $271,620 less
(assuming no increases for him or her)
Why necessary?
PAY EQUITY
This was actual salary; it
doesn’t include the loss in
pension, retirement accounts
and bonuses.

28. Case #2: Women’s Healthcare Under Attack
• Family planning funding to be eliminated
• Emergency reproductive care could be entirely
eliminated
• All men’s healthcare needs are covered by
insurance (including Viagra)
• Women pay more
in premiums
Why necessary?
1) Equal Rights are not fully guaranteed.

29. • The Courts hold sex discrimination to a lower standard than
discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin.
• Court decisions are inconsistent in
applying current law - adding to
confusion about how to review sex
discrimination claims.
• A Constitutional amendment would send
the message that our state has zero
tolerance for all forms of sex discrimination.
Why necessary?
2) Need for a clearer and stricter judicial
standard for deciding cases of sex
discrimination.

30. • The courts & the legislature have
the power to replace existing laws
by a mere majority vote.
• Judicial precedents can be eroded
or ignored.
Why necessary?
3) Protection from rolling back significant
advances over the last 40 years.
• With an ERA in place, progress already made in
eliminating sex discrimination would be much harder to
reverse.

31. • Lilly Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire reversed 40 years of Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws
• Citizens United v. FEC reversed 63+ years of campaign laws
• Corporate personhood
Why necessary?
3) Protection from rolling back significant
advances over the last 40 years.
Examples in the US Supreme Court

32. According to the “Benchmarking Women’s
Leadership” report, women’s advancement
across 10
working sectors
has stalled at
18% across
the board.
Why necessary?
3) Protection from rolling back significant
advances over the last 40 years.

33. Gender Violence.
• Endemic = the norm, to be expected
• Femicide reports (28 people in 2010 in MN)
• Reported rapes (average 6 per day reported in MN, but only
16% are assumed to be reported = 38 per day or 13,687 per year,
84% know the attacker)
We still have a long way to go for women
everywhere to be safe.
Why necessary?
3) Protection from rolling back significant
advances over the last 40 years.

34. Gender Violence.
“Sexual violence is a clear indicator of gender
inequality. The single greatest risk factor for
becoming a victim of sexual assault is being a
woman.* Violence against women is a systemic,
and literally deadly, expression of a fundamental
gender inequity. Sexual violence, and all
violence against women, not only reflects this
fundamental inequality but moreover
perpetuates it.”
- Kate Ravenscroft, 10 Reasons We All Need to Care About Sexual
Violence
Why necessary?

35. Gender Violence.
What any form of sexual violence against women shows is an
essential lack of respect for women. It fails to see that women
have full and equal rights and that any sexual activity needs to
take those rights into account. To put it bluntly, it refuses
women the right to not only choose, accept and initiate sexual
activity as they see fit, but equally to refuse any sexual activity
at any time, under any conditions, according to their own
desires. A culture that doesn’t value a woman’s voice, that does
not listen to women, will have trouble respecting a woman’s
right to choose when, where, how and with whom she engages
in sexual activity. Such a culture, as we know only too well,
perpetrates violence against women at alarming levels.
Why necessary?
- Kate Ravenscroft, 10 Reasons We All Need to Care About Sexual Violence

36. • Many other countries - including Iraq, Japan, and emerging
nations since the 1970‘s - specifically affirm legal equality of
the sexes in their governing documents.
Why necessary?
4) The United States needs to prove our
international commitment to equality.
• CEDAW has been ratified by all but 7 countries in the world:
Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Nauru, Palau, Tonga and the USA. If
the US is a leader--what are we saying?
GLOBAL CHANGE STARTS AT HOME!

37. But is a State ERA necessary?
• Minnesota Laws: 116 statutes with gender
classifications have been overturned in MN since 1972
(current laws not protected)
• A Constitution is the foundation on which all laws are
based. It states the fundamental beliefs and principles
of our state.
• The MN Constitution protects hunting, fishing and
a state lottery...
WHY NOT WOMEN?

38. 22 states have added Equal Rights
Amendments to their own Constitutions
ERA adopted in the 1800’s
ERA adopted from 1972-1982
ERA adopted in 1998
Sex discrimination protection

39. Benefits for men…
• Acceptance of men in
non traditional work
• Acceptance of pay
equality
• Cultural shift
• Maternity leaves for
men
• Parental rights

40. Minnesota Strategy
• Build Statewide Coalition
• Legislative Strategy
• Placed on the Ballot

41. Minnesota Strategy:
Build Statewide Coalition
 Public awareness
campaign.
 Go from city to city and
build a grassroots
community by educating
people and letting them
know about and
encouraging them to join
the CAFE Coalition

42. Minnesota Strategy:
Legislative Strategy
• Grassroots:
community by community education, awareness & citizen
lobbying
• Make into an election year issue in 2016:
in ALL legislative races
• If enough support:
passage by both House
& Senate
(does NOT require
Governor’s signature)

43. Minnesota Strategy:
Placed on the Ballot
• A Major advocacy campaign
will require resources:
money and volunteers!
Once on the ballot,
people must know if
they DON’T mark their
ballot, they are voting
NO

44. Join Us! Spread the word
• Find us on the web
www.ERAmn.org
• Follow us on facebook
• Check out our blog
• Display our button
• Tell your friends!
What can you do?

45. Join Us!
Volunteer or Donate to the Coalition

46. Thank You!
For more information:
www.ERAmn.org
or
eracampaign.net
equalrightsamendment.org