The Equal Rights Amendment is back, and all bets are on Virginia - Polidicks

https://wtop.com/government/2018/09/surprise-the-equal-rights-amendment-is-back/ https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/leftsideonly_forprint_ver3-780x520.jpg WASHINGTON — The Equal Rights Amendment, first introduced to Congress in 1923, appears to have a new chance at becoming part of the Constitution. After almost 100 years of debate, the historic amendment would guarantee gender equality on the federal level, stating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” With Illinois’ ratification of the ERA on May 30, it would only take one additional state to meet the requirement that three-fourths of the states must ratify it. Among the states that have not ratified the ERA yet — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia — all bets are on Virginia to make gender equality a constitutional right. To persuade their elected officials to ratify the ERA during the next legislative session that starts in Richmond on Jan. 9, a group of Virginians launched the “VA ratify ERA” campaign in late August. Kati Hornung, the campaign organizer, told Capital News Service that she decided to push for the ERA mostly for her two daughters: “One of my girls is incensed that gender equality has not yet been written in our Constitution. Every Constitution written since 1950 has included gender equality around the world and the United States Constitution needs to do that as well.”

I wonder what the US military would look like if this had passed in 1978, forcing the US military to accept women into its ranks. Phyllis Schlafly managed to rally a lot of women against the amendment on that basis.

Wow i cant believe the american south is a holdout against equal rights, this has never happened before

Give us some credit, this time we could be the ones responsible for giving people rights

On the one hand, great, on the other hand its very bad precident that an act of one legislature decades and decades ago is still valid. The constitution is not clear on timelines but I would believe the intention for an amendment would be that states would ratify it with haste. this is bad for the future because another campaign has been underway to amend the constitution to force a balanced budget amendment (which would destroy the global economy as well as our own) and they have gotten red legislatures over the years to pass the requisite bills without expiration dates, even as later legislatures would not have done the same.

That's been thrown out the window with the 27th which was on the books but not ratified for 200 years. Also this is a good amendment, but I swear to god if a new amendment is added during the fucking Trump admin, that's an accomplishment we'd never hear the end from from him.

As a Missourian, I'm so glad that hateful ghoul is worm food and her family that runs the beer company distances themselves from her.

That list of states is probably a good list of states to stay the fuck away from

Every one of those states that existed at the time oppose the 14th Amendment, and they had to be forced to ratify it to end military governorship of those states and form new legislatures. The 14th is hugely important as it ensures equal protection under the law, and was used as the base of Supreme Court cases to desegregate schools, legalize abortion, and legalize gay marriage. Many of those states also didn't ratify the 19th until after it was passed, which gives women full voting rights.

Conversely, they're probably cheap states to live in

The governor is doing a local radio call in show next wednesday, and I submitted this question: Question for Governor Northam: With Virginia becoming bluer each election cycle, it's become possible that Virginia could be the final state necessary to ratify the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). Do you support Virginia Ratifying the ERA, and will you push the house of delegates to do so? Radio station said Thanks for the question. I've submitted to our editors. So hopefully we'll see if there's any momentum in the state government for it

It's worth noting that my state, TN, is not one of the holdouts that haven't ratified.

Tennessee was the third state to ratify the 14th, and provided the final ratification necessary for the 19th to be added by a 50-49 vote in the state legislature.

Tennessee was also the southern state that was most heavily divided over secession. They actually rejected it the first time around, and even after they finally joined the confederacy, there was still a lot of pro-Union sentiment within their borders throughout the entire war, which was why they were so quick to rejoin as soon as it was over.

Wowee, what a surprising list...

Virginia was a bit on the fence over seceding. When they eventually did, the Virginia state representatives who disagreed left to the Northern and Western Virginia and formed the restored government of Virginia, and refused to recognize the Virginia government in Richmond. They didn't look at the confederacy as legitimate, nor as a government, but more like a terrorist rebellion which had taken the people of VA hostage: When the Second Wheeling Convention met in its first session, in June 1861, it adopted "A Declaration of the People of Virginia".[1] The declaration stated that the Virginia Declaration of Rights required any substantial change in the form or nature of state government to be approved by the people. Since the Virginia secession convention had been convened by the legislature, not the people, the declaration pronounced the secession convention illegal, and that all of its acts—including the Ordinance of Secession—were ipso facto void. It also declared the pro-secession government void and called for a reorganization of the state government, taking the line that all state officials who had acceded to the Ordinance of Secession had effectively vacated their offices. The members and officers of the Restored Government had themselves not been elected by the people to the offices they had assumed, but instead convened on the basis of local petition and other irregular accreditation, some "more or less self-appointed". Rather than recognize the Confederate state government in Richmond, Pierpont had characterized it as "large numbers of evil-minded persons [that] have banded together in military organizations with intent to overthrow the Government of the State; and for that purpose have called to their aid like-minded persons from other States, who, in pursuance of such call, have invaded this Commonwealth." ... A popular referendum in October 1861 was called on the creation of the new "State of Kanawha" from the northwestern counties of the old Commonwealth of Virginia. The voters' approval led to a constitutional convention, and another popular vote in April 1862 approving the new constitution for a new state, the now renamed "West Virginia".[8] The U.S. Congress then passed a statehood bill for West Virginia, but with the added condition that slaves be emancipated in the new state, and that certain disputed counties be excluded.[9] President Lincoln, although reluctant to divide Virginia during a war aimed at re-uniting the country, eventually signed the statehood bill into law on December 31, 1862. In Wheeling, the added conditions required another constitutional convention and popular referendum. Statehood was achieved on June 20, 1863 as West Virginia was admitted as the 35th state in the Union and an additional star was added to the American flag a few weeks later on Independence Day on the Fourth of July.