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.
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