ERA in the News: FEBRUARY 7, 2026 - FEBRUARY 20, 2026

NATIONAL

Feb. 7 Black History: A Baseball Player & a Civil Rights Leader “An influential civil rights leader who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other activists, Height was also an advocate for women’s rights. She saw them as inseparable from civil rights and was instrumental in the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment which was passed by Congress in 1972.” Mid-Island Times

Feb. 16 OPINION: Political Apathy “This history is rarely taught, and the Women’s Rights Movement really “happened” when publicity grew on the Seneca Falls Convention and led to the first and second waves’ protests that amounted to the 19th Amendment and the almost Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Again, the beginnings of the Women’s Movement in their petitioning isn’t largely taught because of the apathetic line of thought that sought to bar the petitions.” Daily Sundial

STATE NEWS

ARIZONA

Feb. 16 Democrats Are Attempting To Ratify The Equal Rights Amendment in Arizona KJZZ Phoenix

CALIFORNIA

Feb. 7 Californians For Equal Rights Foundation Sues San Francisco To Stop Its Reparations Plan California Globe

MASSACHUSETTS

Feb. 10 Suffolk’s Feminist Generation Aims to Move Beyond Women’s Issues This Semester The Suffolk Journal

MINNESOTA

Feb. 16 Legislative Update: Session Begins Tomorrow Minnesota Legislature

NEVADA

Feb. 11 Women’s Rights Group Sues To Stop Nevada School Sports Ballot MeasureThe Nevada Independent

OHIO

Feb. 19 Organization Collects Signatures to Add Equal Rights Protections to Ohio Constitution WXCU Cincinnati

OREGON

Feb. 10 Activists Abandon Major Campaign To Legalize LGBTQ+ Rights, But Don’t Say Why LGBTQ Nation

Feb. 12 Equal Rights Oregon Cancels Initiative Petition 33 Effort Salt Lake Magazine

PENNSYLVANIA

Feb. 12 ERA Advocates Bring Nationwide ICE OUT Protest to Slippery Rock The Rocket

TEXAS

Feb. 16 Texas and Florida AGs Issue Opinions Ratifying Trump Administration’s Executive Orders Dismantling DEI Policies and Programs JDSUPRA

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JANUARY 24, 2026 - FEBRUARY 6, 2026

NATIONAL

Jan. 24 Political Scientists Finally Recognize We Have a Problem “Arguably, one of Democrats core issues, women’s rights and bodily autonomy, has been addressed by the E.R.A. (Equal Rights Amendment). Legislation to cement the rights expressed in that amendment need to be enacted, as clearly Supreme Court decisions by the current right wingers ignoring the 13th and 14th amendments show.” Daily KOS

Jan. 28 I Need The ERA Because … Online Abuse Can Lead to Offline Harm “Online sexual exploitation and abuse (OSEA) is part of a broader continuum of gender-based violence that causes real-world harm. This factsheet explains how gaps in US constitutional and statutory protections limit effective responses to OSEA, and how the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) could strengthen prevention and accountability mechanisms, enabling better access to justice. By establishing sex equality as a constitutional mandate, the ERA would support coordinated, rights-based action to address the gendered nature of online abuse and its offline impacts.” Equality Now

Jan. 31 When Feminists Feared the Lavender Menace of Lesbians - And How Those Lesbians Fought Back “At a 1969 NOW meeting, Friedan declared that the movement was being threatened by a “lavender menace,” that is, lesbians…Friedan went on to purge lesbians from NOW, including Rita Mae Brown, then editor of NOW’s newsletter and soon to be an iconic author, and Ivy Bottini, who had designed the organization’s logo.” Advocate

Feb. 3 Before Obama and Harris: Black Pioneers Who Ran For President “At a 1969 NOW meeting, Friedan declared that the movement was being threatened by a “lavender menace,” that is, lesbians…Friedan went on to purge lesbians from NOW, including Rita Mae Brown, then editor of NOW’s newsletter and soon to be an iconic author, and Ivy Bottini, who had designed the organization’s logo.” Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Feb. 5 Meet the Mastermind Behind Trump’s Definition of “Woman” "The right slowed the momentum for women’s equality when it killed the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 1980s and turned abortion into a wedge issue. Decades later, the anti-trans movement’s emphasis on strictly defining sex as “biological” has given conservatives a new weapon to claw back the feminist movement’s earlier gains, Ziegler says. The term “biological sex,” she says, has become “the new takedown strategy for anti-discrimination law.” Mother Jones

STATE NEWS

ARIZONA

Jan. 23 Arizona Democrats Renew Call To Ratify Equal Rights Amendment Arizona Capitol Times

CALIFORNIA

Jan. 31 Messengers for Peace LA Progressive

OHIO

Jan. 28 Ohio Equal Rights Collecting Signatures for Equal Rights, Same-Sex Marriage Amendments The Athens Messenger

Jan. 23 Two Amendments = One Goal for Ohio Equal Rights Pulse Media

WISCONSIN

Jan. 24 Wisconsin Senate Rejects Equal Rights Amendment Moves Anti-Discrimination (SJR 94) To The November General Election Ballot Urban Milwaukee

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JANUARY 9, 2026 - JANUARY 23, 2026

NATIONAL

Jan. 5 Driving the Vote for Women’s Equality: From Suffrage to the ERA “More than 100 years ago, two women undertook an epic road trip in support of women’s suffrage. In 2026, feminists are determined to follow in their tracks—until women achieve full constitutional equality.” Ms. Magazine

Jan. 22 Should Revered Words Be Retained or Rewritten? Play Reveals How U.S. Constitution Affects Women, Minorities “The script reminds the audience that all the Founding Fathers were property owing white men. A significant segment delves into how Schreck’s female relatives and ancestors were mistreated, with a reminder that the Equal Rights Amendment still has not passed. Abortion and contraception, considered by supportive U.S. Supreme Court justices as privacy issues, feature in the play, as well as sexual assault, domestic abuse and immigration." Discover Our Coast

Jan. 8 Alice Paul: A Driving Force Behind 20th Century Feminism “Although she never saw the ERA pass, her legacy of fighting for equality lives on through those advocating for the ERA’s recognition as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution." NOW

STATE NEWS

ARIZONA

Jan. 22 Equal Rights Amendment Proponents Face Roadblocks in Effort to Ratify Law in Arizona 91.5 KJZZ Phoenix

HAWAII

Jan. 10 Maui Singer-Songwriter Gail Swanson Releases Rebellious Single, ‘My Mama Marched’ Maui Now

MISSOURI

Jan. 21 Missouri House Committee Hears Bill Removing Barriers for Pregnant Women to Divorce KSMU Ozarks Public Radio

NEVADA

Jan. 8 Nevada Gov. Lombardo Leads 2026 Ballot Initiative to Block Students Born Male From Female Sports CT Insider

NEW YORK

Jan. 13 NY Prisons Are Barring Women From Visiting Their Loved Ones - Because They’re Using Tampons NYCLU

OHIO

Jan. 20 Ohio Equal Rights Starts Collecting Signatures to Get Two Amendments on November Ballot Ohio Capital Journal

Jan. 20 Ohio Organizers ‘Optimistic’ As Campaign Launches To Collect Signatures For Two Equal Rights Ballot Initiatives The Buckeye Flame

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: DECEMBER 6, 2025 - DECEMBER 19, 2025

NATIONAL

Dec. 12 The Far Right’s Gender Playbook “This line of thinking is hardly new. Phyllis Schlafly, who spearheaded the effort to block the US Equal Rights Amendment decades ago, similarly insisted that feminism would destroy Western civilization by pulling women away from their “natural” roles as mothers and homemakers. The appeal of these ideas among women underscores just how effective authoritarian and far-right movements have been at persuading younger people that the left cares only about advancing minorities while the right is looking out for “people like them.” Women of color and LGBTQ+ communities will be the first to suffer, but they will not be the only ones.” Project Syndicate

Dec. 15 Bill of Rights Day “It is perhaps relevant to note that the US has ratified but three of the nine core UN human rights treaties and only somewhere around five of the eighteen major international human rights instruments. Oh yes, we've also never ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Just sayin’” Daily KOS

STATE NEWS

NEVADA

Dec. 5 Ask Steve: Voting Twice? What’s Up With That? ABC13 KTNV Las Vegas

NORTH DAKOTA

Dec. 8 How Originalism Revived an Abortion Ban a Majority of the North Dakota Supreme Court Held Unconstitutional State Court Reporter

UTAH

Dec. 10 Utah Feminists See Both Progress and Setbacks in the Fight for Gender Equality Salt Lake City Weekly

WASHINGTON

Dec. 16 Letter: Defend Principles in 3rd District The Columbian

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: NOVEMBER 22, 2025 - DECEMBER 5, 2025

NATIONAL

Nov. 27 The Perils and Promise of an Article V Convention "The Equal Rights Amendment—a guarantee of equal legal rights regardless of sex—was proposed in 1923 but did not pass in Congress until 1972. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA. However, the ERA would not become law due to the fact that Congress had imposed a ratification deadline of 1982, and so the National Archives declined to publish it.  Whether Congress’ imposition of a ratification deadline is itself “Constitutional” is an as-yet-unanswered legal question." Daily Kos

Dec. 2 A Tribute to the Late Congresswoman Shirley A. Chisholm "On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents an encore presentation of a conversation he had with the late Shirley A. Chisholm." KUT News

STATE NEWS

NEW YORK

Dec. 1 Challenge to Mandatory Retirement Age for New York Judges Rejected JDSUPRA

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: NOVEMBER 8, 2025 - NOVEMBER 21, 2025

NATIONAL

Nov. 11 Paleoconservatism: Hard-Right Zombies Rule “In 1972, Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative lawyer and writer, launched a successful counteroffensive to block the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that would guarantee women the same rights as men. Schlafly, a devoutly Catholic and rightwing activist, was a militant anticommunist long affiliated with the John Birch Society. Often unappreciated, her “STOP-ERA” campaign became more than a single-issue “war,” more than an effort to block a proposed constitutional amendment.” Counter Punch

Nov. 11 Week After Week, The US is Dismantling Knowledge Infrastructure “The first woman to serve as the Librarian of Congress was dismissed in a two-sentence email. The National Archivist was removed despite having previously blocked the Biden administration’s Equal Rights Amendment ratification. Each firing portends further erasure of critical knowledge production in the nation’s most robust institutions, by systematically weakening America’s ability to collect and preserve information that markets, policymakers, and citizens depend on.” Tech Policy Press

Nov. 14 Dick Cheney: Two Hearts, But Remained Heartless “During his eleven years in Congress, Cheney’s record was strictly reactionary. He opposed federal funding for abortions, with no exceptions in the case of rape or incest. He voted against the equal rights amendment for women. On education issues, he consistently opposed funding of Head Start, and he voted against creating the Department of Education, which Donald Trump has virtually destroyed.” Counter Punch

Nov. 19 This Century-Old Tool Enabled the Epstein Vote. It’s Having a Renaissance “Discharge petitions for the Equal Rights Amendment and a Jim Crow-era anti-lynching bill similarly inspired large public interest.” Wake Up To Politics

STATE NEWS

GEORGIA

Nov. 13 Georgia Tech Honors Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter with School of Public Policy Naming 11Alive

ILLINOIS

Nov. 14 Dialogs: Jill Lepore’s Book We The People Tells Us Why Out Constitution Needs an Overhaul Third Coast Review

MINNESOTA

Nov. 15 St. Paul Mayo-Elect Kaohly Her Officially Resigns From Her House Seat Bring Me The News

OHIO

Nov. 10 Two Anti-Discrimination Amendments Proposed to Ohio Constitution The News Record

PENNSYLVANIA

Nov. 14 Major Cases Remain On PA High Courts’ Agenda Bedford Gazette

Nov. 18 Mission to Protect Reproductive Rights and Women’s Health Care ‘Never More Urgent’ Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: OCTOBER 25, 2025 - NOVEMBER 7, 2025

NATIONAL

Nov. 5 State Courts Fill Post-Dobbs Void with Myriad Approaches to Abortion Rights “Others have held that Equal Rights Amendments (ERAs) forbid limitations on the use of state funds to cover abortion for low-income individuals on Medicaid. In 2024, for example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held in Allegheny Reproductive Health v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that a ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion constituted sex discrimination under the state ERA.” ABA

Nov. 5 Democrats Who Back Reproductive Rights Win Key Races ““It’s a big deal that the girls and the young women I have met along the campaign trail now know with certainty that they can achieve anything,” Spanberger said during her victory speech.” News from the States

STATE NEWS

MICHIGAN

Oct. 30 AAUW Northville-Novi Celebrates 50 Years of Advocating for Women AAUW

Oct. 18 When Edwardsville’s ERA Stood for Horsepower, Not Politics The Edwardsville Intelligencer

OHIO

Oct. 25 Ohio-Born Obergefell Backs Same-Sex Marriage, Equal Rights 2026 Ballot Efforts NBC 4 WCMH-TV

PENNSYLVANIA

Oct. 30 Capital-Star Q&A: DNC Chair Ken Martin Says PA. Supreme Court Election Stakes are High News From The States

Oct. 28 The Most Important Election No One’s Talking About Above The Law

Nov. 3 Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court Considers Case Challenging Medicaid Limits for Abortion 90.5 WESA

Oct. 30 The Next Year of Elections May Determine if Abortion Remains Legal in Pennsylvania - or How it is Banned WHYY

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: October 11, 2025 - OCTOBER 24, 2025

NATIONAL

Oct. 13 Independent Lens: Ratified “Take a revealing look at the grassroots organizing and legislative maneuvering that helped make Virginia the pivotal 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in “Ratified.” The documentary feature traces the women-led legal, political, and deeply personal fight to enshrine gender equality in the U.S. Constitution nearly a century after the ERA was first proposed, and over 50 years since the House of Representatives and Senate both passed it.” KPBS 65

Oct. 14 Stalsworth: Keep Women’s Rights, Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment “Most of us take for granted that women have equal rights as men. Most of these rights have only been granted within my lifetime. And until the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is ratified, women still don’t have the same rights as men.” The Seguin Gazette

Oct. 14 Former VA Delegate Hala Ayala Appointed National NOW PAC Director "The National Organization for Women (NOW) has appointed Hala Ayala as its new National Political Action Committee (PAC) Director to usher in a new era of bold leadership, strategic fundraising, and unapologetic advocacy for equity and representation for women.” NOW

Oct. 17 The Real History Behind ‘Liberation’ on Broadway "The basement of an Ohio rec center in 1970 doesn’t seem like the typical setting for igniting societal change and dismantling inequitable norms. But in Bess Wohl’s Liberation, a group of women find community, empowerment, and collective activism when they meet there for a weekly consciousness-raising group. Liberation, now in performances at the James Earl Jones Theatre after an acclaimed off-Broadway run earlier this year, is also a memory play: The daughter of the group’s founder, Lizzie, is looking back at this moment in her now-deceased mother’s past.” New York Theatre Guide

STATE NEWS

MINNESOTA

Oct. 20 Why the ERA Can’t Wait: Voices from the Minnesota Equal Rights Coalition Gender Justice

PENNSYLVANIA

Oct. 18 Voters Decide Fate of 3 PA. Supreme Court Justices in Nonpartisan Retention Election WTAE 4

Oct. 15 Vote! How Vote 4 Equality Advocates for Students Voting on Campus Her Campus

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: SEPTEMBER 27, 2025 - OCTOBER 10, 2025

NATIONAL

Sept. 28 Who Killed the Constitution? “She argues that ‘it’s not the Constitution that’s dead, it’s the idea of amending it.’ And that process has stalled: The U.S. Constitution hasn’t been amended since 1992, and the last major proposal - The Equal Rights Amendment - was proposed in 1923, passed by Congress in 1973, and has been in limbo ever since.” The Ink

Sept. 28 A Living People, A Fossilized Constitution "Even amendments like the Equal Rights Amendment, which has widespread support, were unable to pass this high bar.” The Michigan Daily

Oct. 1 MAGA Christians Want Wives to Stay at Home — But There’s An Ironic Hypocrisy “Perhaps no one has pulled off this public balancing act with as much dexterity as Phyllis Schlafly. The conservative activist enjoyed a thriving, decades-long career in politics - she famously led a successful campaign against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s — while reminding the women of America that security and home and hearth was preferable to a job and equality.” HuffPost

Oct. 6 Rose Byrne’s 96% Rotten Tomatoes Masterpiece Miniseries Quietly Hits Harder Today “With its significant performances and thoughtful stories rich in historical nuance, Mrs. America remains an intriguing watch for anyone interested in gender, politics, and history, now available to stream. The miniseries on Hulu reminds us that the narrative surrounding women’s rights is not as straightforward as it may seem; however, it serves as a reminder that courage, cleverness, and conflict have historically driven action in each of us.” Collider

STATE NEWS

NEW YORK

Oct. 7 NY Judges Say Mandatory Retirement Age is Unconstitutional Bloomberg Law

Oct. 8 Judges Sue New York Over Forced Retirement Finger Lakes 1

OHIO

Oct. 3 Proposed Ohio Amendments Would Protect LGBTQ Rights Amid Legislative Push Cleveland

PENNSYLVANIA

Oct. 6 Pennsylvania’s Radical Constitution: An Experiment in the Making State Court Report

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: SEPTEMBER 13, 2025 - SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

NATIONAL

Sept. 17 NOW Observes Constitution Day - Although Women Still Aren’t Included in the Constitution "NOW members will know that celebrating the Constitution means recognizing that it remains incomplete.  The failure of the framers to include women in our nation’s founding documents is a monumental mistake that has long demanded correction." NOW

Sept. 18 In Upcoming Virginia, N.J. and Pennsylvania Elections, Women’s Votes Will Decide the Future of Reproductive Rights and Equality "This week marks the anniversary of women getting the right to vote. That was codified as the 19th amendment to Mathe Constitution on August 26th, 1920. But the status of another amendment remains uncertain." Ms. Magazine

STATE NEWS

MINNESOTA

Sep. 21 A Woman’s Right to Vote is at Risk Grand Rapids Herald Review

NEW YORK

Sep. 18 Mayor Adams to ‘Dig Into’ Authority to ‘Change’ Student Bathroom Policy Gay City News

OHIO

Sep. 13 Something Missing From Constitution Herald Star

Sep. 16 Group Backs 2 Equal Rights Amendments Norwalk Reflector

WISCONSIN

Sep. 22 New Bill Seeks to Secure Equal Rights in Wisconsin Constitution We Are Green Bay

Sep. 22 Lawmakers Introduce Equal Rights Amendment for Wisconsin State Constitution WBAY

Sep. 22 Sen. Johnson, Rep. Brown: Introduce Equal Rights Amendment WIS Politics

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: AUGUST 29, 2025 - SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

NATIONAL

Sept. 10 ‘These Aren’t Decorative Constitutional Provisions — They’re Powerful Tools Waiting to Be Used’: How the ERA Project is Advancing the Feminist Agenda, State by State “In the final episode of the Ms. Studios podcast Looking Back, Moving Forward, ERA Project director Ting Ting Cheng breaks down the power of state Equal Rights Amendments—and how activists and lawmakers can leverage them to build a stronger foundation for federal constitutional equality for everyone.”Ms Magazine

Aug. 29 How Close is the Equal Rights Amendment to becoming the 28th amendment to the Constitution? "This week marks the anniversary of women getting the right to vote. That was codified as the 19th amendment to the Constitution on August 26th, 1920. But the status of another amendment remains uncertain." WAER 88.3

STATE NEWS

CALIFORNIA

Aug. 27 WeHo celebrates Women’s Equality Day Beverly Press Park Labrea News

MASSACHUSETTS

Aug. 27 Columnist Carrie Baker with Inanna Balkin: Young feminist activism in the Valley and beyond Daily Hampshire Gazette

NEW YORK

Aug. 28 Commentary: Hochul must sign bills that protect access to reproductive care NYCLU

OREGON

Aug. 28 Oregon unions back Equal Rights for All measure, aiming to amend state constitution KATU 2

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: AUGUST 2, 2025 - AUGUST 15, 2025

NATIONAL

Aug. 1 A Revolutionary Way to End the Incarceration of Girls “Politicians and activists mused whether Hawaii—a pioneer for women’s and girls’ rights as the first state to legalize abortion and ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—might also have found a way to stop locking them up. “Another world is possible,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted after learning of the news.” Mother Jones

Aug. 4 Equality Now highlights how the Equal Rights Amendment can help safeguard LGBTQ+ rights and same-sex marriage "LGBTQ+ individuals across the United States are facing an alarming resurgence of rights violations, and there is an urgent need for robust legal protections. Equality Now highlights how full universal recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution would help safeguard LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equality." EIN Presswire

Aug. 7 The Speculum: 200 Years of Painful ‘Progress’ "Change begins with design—but it must also include listening to patients, validating their pain, and creating care that respects rather than merely accommodates them. That’s the future reproductive healthcare should be working toward. Legal protections play a role too: the Equal Rights Amendment would provide a constitutional guarantee of sex equality, helping to challenge the systemic neglect of women’s health needs." ERA Coalition

STATE NEWS

NEW YORK

Aug. 14 SCOTUS Undermined Trans Rights: How Do We Protect Them in NY NYCLU

OHIO

Aug. 8 Ohio Equal Rights organizers won’t quit ballot effort, despite state’s decision Cleveland.com

Aug. 4 Ohio Rights Group Pushes Amendment Effort Back to 2026 Ohio Capital Journal

TEXAS

Aug. 7 Women’s Equality in Texas The Fayette County Record

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JULY 19, 2025 - AUGUST 1, 2025

NATIONAL

Jul. 18 Attacks on Abortion Access Are as Old as White Supremacist Patriarchy Itself. Here’s How We Fight Back. - Ms. Magazine "Frietsche and the WLP, in 2024, won a decades-long fight in Pennsylvania to close that gap in promise, and to affirm that abortion rights are tied up in women’s constitutional equality in the state — and protected under the Equal Rights Amendment in its state constitution." Ms. Magazine

Jul. 18 Inside the Feminist Fight to Reclaim Our Reproductive Freedom (with Renee Bracey Sherman, Michele Goodwin, Angie Jean-Marie and Amy Merrill, Susan Frietsche, and Gov. Maura Healey) - Ms. Magazine "27 states across the country, however, have Equal Rights Amendments or other gender equity provisions in their state constitutions — and in Pennsylvania, those protections have been affirmed to include reproductive rights." Ms. Studios

Jul. 27 Guest opinion: Women and children matter - Utah Policy "Let’s start with the constitution which explicitly did not and still does NOT give women equal protection. We are still waiting for the Equal Rights Amendment even though it has been ratified by 38 states." Utah Policy

Jul. 28 Battles over Medicaid Funding for Abortion  | State Court Report "In Nevada, an organization that helps cover abortion costs for low-income patients sought a writ of mandamus establishing that the state’s Equal Rights Amendment — which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex — required reimbursement for abortion services." State Court Reporter

STATE NEWS

New York

Jul. 21 Open Questions: Safeguarding Employee Privacy and New York State Prenatal Leave Law - New York State Bar Association New York Bar Association

OHIO

Jul. 24 Despite decision by ballot board, activists push ahead with equal rights amendment | News | athensmessenger.com The Athens Messenger

Jul. 27 Ohio Equal Rights Amendment Moves One Step Closer to Voters Weighing in on Banning Discrimination, Approving Marriage Equality - The Good Men Project The Good Men Project

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JULY 5, 2025 - JULY 18, 2025

NATIONAL

Jul. 5 Column: Oh please, the right is reviving a tired trope about women - Los Angeles Times "Anyway, there is absolutely nothing new here. A certain subset of women — straight, white, conservative, religious — has always fought against gender equality for their own reasons, but mostly I’d say because it threatens their own privileged status and proximity to male power." Los Angeles Times

Jul. 5 Rhetorical strategies in the speeches of Mrs America: Feminist Media Studies: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access “While the series dramatized many aspects of Schlafly’s personal life, it can thus be seen to provide a relatively nuanced representation of her role in shaping conservative activism, offering an invitation to viewers to critically assess the cultural tensions of the period." Taylor & Friends

Jul. 15 'Misogyny Is a System': Julie Suk Wants to Reimagine U.S. Institutions—and Build a Democracy of Equality - Ms. Magazine "Even if we formally have the right to vote and we formally have equality, the entire infrastructure by which women have been excluded from real participation in decision making and power, that continues." Ms. Magazine

STATE NEWS

This week, all eyes are on Ohio as the grassroots feminist organization Ohio Equal Rights successfully gathered enough signatures to get a state ERA on the ballot. If passed, this measure would effectively add language to Ohio's state constitution to protect citizens from discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin, or military and veteran status. 
 
What began as a big hoorah has now simmered into a bit of a legislative dilemma; let me explain. 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified to the Ohio Ballot Board on July 3rd that the group collected enough signatures (over double the necessary amount) to clear the necessary requirements to get a state ERA on the ballots of Ohio citizens, similar to New York State's successful Prop 1 campaign of 2024. However, on July 9th, the Ohio Ballot Board voted that the proposed amendment was actually two separate issues, as the state ERA would eliminate Ohio's current constitutional ban on gay marriage. Yes, you read that right; despite the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, Ohio still has a constitutional ban on gay marriage

What happens now? 

Organizers from Ohio Equal Rights have the opportunity to challenge this ruling through the Ohio Supreme Court or start over and collect the necessary signatures again, this time for two amendments. Below you will find a chronology of news articles on the situation. 

You can stay up to date on the Ohio ERA campaign by checking out Ohio Equal Rights' website, linked below.

Home | Ohio Equal Rights
 

OHIO

Jul. 3 Ohio ‘equal rights,’ same-sex marriage constitutional amendment clears first hurdle Dayton Daily News

Jul. 3 Backers of anti-discrimination amendment clear first hurdle for 2026 Ohio ballot | WOSU Public Media WOSU

Jul. 7 Proposed Ohio Equal Rights Amendment clears hurdle from Attorney General, heads to Ballot Board • Ohio Capital Journal Ohio Capital Journal

Jul. 9 Ohio equal rights amendment would outlaw discrimination, void same-sex marriage ban | NBC4 WCMH-TV NBC 4

Jul. 10 Ohio Ballot Board splits proposed Ohio Equal Rights Amendment into two amendments • Ohio Capital Journal Ohio Capital Journal

Jul. 25 Proposed Ohio Equal Rights amendment gets split Spectrum News 1

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JUNE 21, 2025 - JULY 4, 2025

NATIONAL

Jun. 20 SCOTUS' 'Skrmetti' Ruling: Without the ERA, Protections Against Sex Discrimination Remain Fragile - Ms. Magazine "But Skrmetti shows how fragile protections against sex discrimination have become without any explicit guarantee, like the Equal Rights Amendment." Ms. Magazine

Jun. 24 A Decade of Marriage Equality in the US: 5 Reasons We Still Need the ERA for LGBTQ+ Rights this Pride Month - Equality Now “June 26, 2025, marks ten years since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which affirmed the constitutional right to marry for same-sex couples. It was a historic victory, recognizing love and equal access to marriage under the law. But ten years on, that promise is under threat. LGBTQ+ individuals across the United States face an alarming resurgence of rights violations, and there is an urgent need for robust legal protections. That’s why full universal recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution matters more than ever." Equality Now

Jun. 26 Op-ed: 10 years later, marriage equality is under attack "Voting and civil rights are continuously under attack in our nation’s courtrooms and halls of power. The Equal Rights Amendment, first introduced in 1923 and reintroduced in 1973, has never been ratified and made law. Legislation and court rulings have curtailed or banned reproductive rights." The Advocate

Jun. 27 After Dobbs, States Become Battleground For Abortion Rights - Law360 “In January 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state's Equal Rights Amendment applied to the Medicaid-funded abortion ban in the state, overturning the dismissal of a lawsuit by a trial court. The ruling sent the case, Allegheny Reproductive Health v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, back to the lower courts to evaluate its constitutionality." Law 360

STATE NEWS

GEORGIA

Jun. 24 The softball league that increased lesbian visibility and started a stereotype - GayCities Gay Cities

NEVADA

Jun. 27 SCOTUS: States can bar Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood; no changes expected in Nevada - The Nevada Independent The Nevada Independent

NEW MEXICO

Jul. 2 The Equal Rights Amendment | Cibola Citizen The Cibola Citizen

NEW YORK

Jun. 25 Elizabeth Holtzman to speak at Unitarian Universalists of Southold - The Suffolk Times The Suffolk Times

Jun. 27 Fact check: Claims of extremism against Mamdani debunked – DW – 06/27/2025 DW

OHIO

Jul. 1 Backers of anti-discrimination amendment starting effort to put it before Ohio voters next year | WOSU Public Media WOSU

VIRGINIA

Jun. 20 Virginia Tech marks 53rd anniversary of Title IX | Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech Virginia Tech News

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: JUNE 7, 2025 - JUNE 20 2025

NATIONAL

Jun. 12 Make Them Hear You · National Parks Conservation Association "One of the oldest structures in Washington, D.C., Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument houses priceless history.

Here, within the walls of this imposing brick federal-style residence a block from the U.S. Capitol, leaders of the National Woman’s Party worked to try to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. They planned picket lines and Congressional lobby days and organized to fight for women’s equality under the law." National Parks Conservation Association

Jun. 12 More than supporters, men are stakeholders in equality: A discussion about men and the ERA - Equality Now “The ERA provides a legal foundation for gender equality. But it also offers something more: a vision of shared responsibility, a framework for healthy masculinity, and a legal opening for systemic change that could benefit every person living under US law.” Equality Now

STATE NEWS

DELAWARE

Jun. 12 Delaware Senate passes bill to codify same-sex marriage Washington Blade

MINNESOTA

Jun. 14 Adjourned: What the Minnesota Legislature did and didn’t pass this year - InForum | Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo news, weather and sports Echo Press

NEW YORK

Jun. 18 AMIDST HISTORIC THREATS TO LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY, CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN REINTRODUCES EQUALITY ACT, PUSHES ALONGSIDE HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITY TO PASS CRITICAL LEGISLATION | Congressman Pat Ryan Pat Ryan House Gov

Jun. 18 NYCLU on Supreme Court Ruling Upholding Tennessee’s Ban on Gender Affirming Care  - NYCLU NYCLU

SOUTH CAROLINA

Jun. 15 LWVSC Continues to Champion DEI | MyLO LWV of South Carolina

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: MAY 24 2025 - June 6 2025

NATIONAL

May. 27 For Alice, Who Broke Both Tradition and the Sexist, Racist President. “Alice was not done. She felt strongly that America also needed an Equal Rights Amendment, which she helped draft and campaigned for for decades. She correctly predicted that the imposition of a time limit would prevent it from becoming law, due to delay tactics.” Daily KOS

May. 31 A Constitutional Democratic Republic ... if we can keep it! “One of the central arguments in the book is that the Constitution’s amendment process is excessively rigid, making meaningful reform nearly impossible. Amending the Constitution requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-fourths of state legislatures, a threshold that is nearly insurmountable in the current polarized political environment. This rigidity perpetuates structural inequalities and prevents the country from adapting its governance to modern challenges or securing the constitutional rights of all citizens (e.g., the saga of the Equal Rights Amendment).” Daily KOS

Jun. 4 Artist projects protest statements on Yellowstone National Park "Although she has been creating public feminist artworks for years now, the projections began two weeks after the presidential election in November 2024. First, Pred displayed an image urging then-President Biden to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C." Good Good Good

Jun. 6 The Trump administration is erasing women | The Christian Century "Although she has been creating public feminist artworks for years now, the projections began two weeks after the presidential election in November 2024. First, Pred displayed an image urging then-President Biden to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C." The Christian Century

STATE NEWS

MISSOURI

May. 13 Kit Bond, former Missouri governor, U.S. Senator, dead at 86 • Missouri Independent Missouri Independent

NEVADA

May. 11 Clark County must punish corruption, not ignore it | EDITORIAL | Editorials | Opinion Las Vegas Review Journal

May. 21 Trans athlete ban in Nevada is unconstitutional, ACLU says Reno Gazette Journal

NEW YORK

May. 15 Two Wayne County judges challenge mandatory retirement The New York Daily Record

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: MAY 10 2025 - MAY 23 2025

NATIONAL

May. 13 The one big thing behind the Supreme Court's radical right turn. "After Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, the constitutional amendment that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, a countermovement pushed states not to ratify the measure." Slate

May. 15 Opinion | The GOP Hates You and Wants You to Have a Harder Life | Common Dreams "Republicans hate empowered women because forced pregnancies create more potential workers and unwanted children exacerbate poverty. Thus their 50+ years of opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment and their embrace of abortion bans.” Common Dreams

May. 22 In the Face of Trump’s Erasure, We Must Write Women Back Into the Story - Ms. Magazine "The answer is as old as patriarchy itself: it’s easier to dismiss women if we forget what they’ve done." Ms. Magazine

STATE NEWS

MISSOURI

May. 13 Kit Bond, former Missouri governor, U.S. Senator, dead at 86 • Missouri Independent Missouri Independent

NEVADA

May. 11 Clark County must punish corruption, not ignore it | EDITORIAL | Editorials | Opinion Las Vegas Review Journal

May. 21 Trans athlete ban in Nevada is unconstitutional, ACLU says Reno Gazette Journal

NEW YORK

May. 15 Two Wayne County judges challenge mandatory retirement The New York Daily Record

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: APR 12 2025 - APR 25 2025

NATIONAL

Apr. 22 Women’s rights activist offers glimpse of legislative process | News | paysonroundup.com “She set the tone by urging her listeners to declare their support for the Equal Rights Amendment, which after 30 years has accumulated the 38 state legislative votes necessary to be added to the Constitution." Payson Roundup

STATE NEWS

MAINE

Apr. 17 Maine House passes bill to affirm Maine Human Rights Act protections in state constitution Fox 23 Maine

Apr. 24 Latest attempt to add Equal Rights Amendment to Maine Constitution languishes • Maine Morning Star Maine Morning Star

Alice Paul Center
ERA in the News: MAR 29 2025 - APr 11 2025

NATIONAL

Mar. 30 Opinion: Women’s History Month 2025: we still don't have equal rights “Girls can’t do that job,' the local TV news director immediately responded, grinning, to my daring statement that I wanted to become a newscaster. Welcome to the real world that 1967 summer after college graduation." Citizen Times

Apr. 1 ERA Congressional Resolution Introduced on Equal Pay Day - Ms. Magazine "Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) congressional resolution in commemoration of Equal Pay Day, March 25, to highlight economic gender discrimination and show why constitutional equality is needed now more than ever to close the income gap between women and men." Ms. Magazine

Apr. 3 The ERA and the Path Forward: What Happens After Biden’s Declaration?  - Equality Now "However, Biden’s declaration does not mean the effort to achieve constitutional equality is over. Just days after leaving office, his declaration was removed from the White House website, underscoring the reality of continuing pushback against the validity of the ERA." Equality Now

Apr. 3 Medicaid coverage for abortion continues to evolve with ongoing litigation | Reuters "This argument was originally rejected by the Commonwealth Court in 2021. The plaintiffs appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which, in January of 2024, established that Pennsylvania's abortion restrictions are "presumptively unconstitutional" because they violate the Equal Rights Amendment ("ERA") enshrined in the Pennsylvania constitution.” Reuters

STATE NEWS

CALIFORNIA

Mar. 28 Opinion: This is Where We Live | Guest Opinion | lagunabeachindy.com Laguna Beach Independent

MAINE

Apr. 7 Social Media, Plastic Bags and Paramilitary Training - Legislative Scouting Report for April 8 - The Maine Wire Maine Wire

MINNESOTA

Mar. 31 We need an Equal Rights Amendment more than ever The Minnesota Star Tribune

Apr. 3 Minnesota legislative deadlines loom; Senate DFL bonding proposal - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News KSTP

Apr. 3 Equal Rights Amendment vote postponed another day - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News KSTP

NEW JERSEY

Mar. 28 Commentary: Millicent Fenwick, a woman for all seasons, for Women’s History Month | Morristown Green Morristown Green

NEW YORK

Mar. 21 Opinion: A way for state lawmakers to really support women and girls Sun Journal

OHIO

Apr. 7 Still Think Democrats Aren't Fighting Back? Introducing Shontel Brown. Daily KOS

PENNSYLVANIA

Mar. 27 High school parents push back against PIAA’s ban on transgender athletes The Keystone

Mar. 28 ‘The world has changed’: Legal battle in Pa. challenges Medicaid restrictions on abortion accessThe Keystone

VIRGINIA

Apr. 9 Kaine, Warner recommending two MAGAs for U.S. Attorney post The Augusta Free Press

Alice Paul Center