FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
***Press Release***
North Carolina lawmakers, officials to demand
NCGA ratify the Equal Rights Amendment at Aug. 26 rally
CONTACTS:
- Teri Walley, ERA-NC Alliance, 704-560-1105, twalley@me.com
- Gailya Paliga, President, NC National Organization for Women, nownorthcarolina@gmail.com
Raleigh, NC, August 25, 2021 – North Carolina lawmakers and state officials will rally alongside statewide women’s rights groups at the North Carolina General Assembly at 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 26, to demand that members of the General Assembly finally vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Name: Women’s INEquality Day Event at NCGA
Date: Thursday, August 26, 2021
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Place: NC Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., Lawn at corner of Jones and Wilmington
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/263280028491719
Aug. 26 is recognized nationally as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the publication of the 19th Amendment, but event sponsor the ERA-NC Alliance has re-dubbed the day as “Women’s (IN)Equality Day” to more accurately reflect the current state of women’s rights.
“North Carolina took more than 50 years to ratify women’s right to vote AFTER the 19th Amendment was in the U.S. Constitution,” said Lori Bunton, co-president of the ERA-NC Alliance. “Our state cannot afford to be on the wrong side of women’s equality again. By ratifying the ERA, we send a powerful message that North Carolina believes women deserve the same legal protections as men.”
Women’s rights organizations have scheduled rallies nationwide on August 26, calling for the publication of the ERA as the 28th Amendment, including one on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington DC at noon.
The rally in Raleigh will feature a “who’s who” slate of lawmakers and women’s advocates, including N.C. Secretary of Commerce Machelle Sanders and former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley.
Rep. Julie von Haefen, Rep. Susan Fisher, Sen. Natalie Murdock and Sen. Natasha Marcus, all tireless advocates for ratification, will also take the stage. In January, these lawmakers filed bills to ratify the ERA in the state House and Senate. Neither bill has so much as received a hearing in committee.
In addition, the rally will feature two leading advocates for women’s rights and social justice, Mandy Carter, co-founder of Southerners on New Ground and the National Black Justice Coalition; and Barbara Lau, executive director of the Pauli Murray Center.
Representatives from the Alliance’s partner organizations, including American Association of University Women NC, League of Women Voters NC, Lillian’s List, NC Business and Professional Women, NC National Organization for Women (NC NOW), Women AdvaNCe and Women NC, will comment on their current actions in North Carolina, as well as work in Washington, D.C.
“There are over 4.2 million women in North Carolina and none of them have full equality in the U.S. Constitution or the N.C. Constitution,” said Jimmie Cochran Pratt, co-president of the NC-ERA Alliance. “I ask our General Assembly: How much longer must women wait?”
Speakers will be available for comment at the event. The press can stop by the Speakers/Media table for help connecting with them. Press can also contact Teri Walley, vice president/PR for the NC-ERA Alliance, at (704) 560-1105 or twalley@me.com.
BACKGROUND
The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in 1923. The U.S. House adopted it on Oct. 12, 1971, as a joint resolution, followed by the Senate on March 22, 1972. Under the U.S. Constitution, three-fourths of the states (38) are required to approve the resolution in order for it to be accepted as an amendment. Thirty-five states passed the ERA before the seven-year deadline of March 22, 1979. In 1978, Congress extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Since then, three more states (Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia in 2020) have ratified. After Virginia’s vote, National Archivist David Ferriero failed to publish the amendment, which would have made it part of the Constitution. Pending lawsuits call for the archivist to recognize “the complete and final adoption” of the ERA. The Biden administration has yet to require the archivist to certify Virginia’s vote or require him to publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment.
North Carolina has passed neither a state ERA nor the proposed Constitutional amendment. At least 25 states have adopted their own laws providing that equal rights under the law shall not be denied because of sex.
FULL TEXT OF 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.
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