Sen. Mazie K. Hirono recently joined the chorus of legislators supporting the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress in 1972.
Although the required 38 states have voted to ratify the amendment—Hawaii was the first–ratification has been stalled due to an arbitrary deadline imposed 50 years ago.
“The fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment within the halls of Congress began nearly one century ago, and we can’t stop the fight until it is formally published in our U.S. Constitution,” Hirono said in a press release from her office. “This long-fought battle has a special connection to my home state of Hawaii—Hawaii was the first state to ratify the ERA. Our next generation of all women, including transgender women and gender non-conforming individuals, deserve better. We cannot wait any longer to formalize the ERA.”
Hirono participated in a press conference in January to introduce a resolution to remove the arbitrary deadline for ratification of the ERA and positively affirm the 38-state threshold needed for ratification of the ERA has been met.
According to the release, Hawaii was the first state to ratify the ERA on March 22, 1972, the same day it passed in Congress. The amendment had to be ratified by at least 38 states for it to become part of the Constitution. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, but the Constitution does not contain any explicit protections guaranteeing equal rights for women.
“I hate to use words like ‘having the courage’ to enact something that is so right, but that’s what it’s going to take,” Hirono said. “Congress has to step up once again to enable this amendment to be in our Constitution—that’s all we have to do people.”
Joining Hirono in this initiative are Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Cori Bush (D-MO), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA). They were joined at the press conference by Zakiya Thomas, president and CEO of the Equal Rights Coalition; Eleanor Smeal, co-founder, and president of the Feminist Majority; and Sasha Goodfriend of the National Organization for Women, Massachusetts Chapter (Mass NOW).
