
The fact that these companies are now lending their names in support of this cause bodes extremely well. It points to the long awaited social consensus that, as Alice Paul said so many years ago, “there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.”
What has become clear over the past two weeks is that the time for American women to be equal under our laws has arrived — and not a day too soon. The public is on our side and the moment is upon us. And while from the outside all signs look very good, we must remain extremely vigilant and remember that sadly there are still powerful forces who do not want to see this happen, regardless of the level of public support.
While these anti – equality forces may not show their faces overtly, we can hear the influence of their bigotry echoed in the poor arguments made by the government in opposition to ERA. Their response relies on technicalities; old outdated precedent; irrelevant parts of cited cases; clear intent to avoid the spirit of the law; and obvious attempts to find ways to push injustice through in the guise of purportedly keeping to the law’s letter… in a word, tricks.
Thankfully, the American public is not in the mood for tricks right now. The ground is shifting seismically every day and so we must push through this chaotic time with alacrity and singlemindedness of purpose to ensure that women’s rights do not, once again, become collateral damage to the vicissitudes of history.