Women veterans, national organizations, civil rights advocates and the City of West Hollywood stand together in support of EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s First Circuit appeal.
On August 9, 2026, an Amicus Curiae Brief was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in support of EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s appeal seeking full constitutional equality for women.
Forty-nine amici from across the country joined the filing.
The brief is led by National Women’s Political Caucus, National Women Veterans United, International Association of Military Women of Color, and Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), organizations whose members have devoted their lives to military service and to advancing women’s constitutional equality.
They are joined by the City of West Hollywood and a broad coalition of national, state and local organizations working for women’s legal, civic, political and constitutional equality.
Together, the amici represent thousands of women whose lives are directly affected by the constitutional questions now before the First Circuit.
A QUESTION FAR LARGER THAN SELECTIVE SERVICE
The amicus brief supports EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s appeal of the federal district court ruling in EQUAL MEANS EQUAL v. Donald J. Trump, which challenges the continued exclusion of women from Selective Service registration and, more fundamentally, the lesser constitutional protection afforded to women under current federal law.
As the brief makes clear:
“This appeal presents not merely a question concerning Selective Service registration, but a broader question of constitutional equality.”
The amici expressly support EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s arguments that the Equal Rights Amendment is valid and enforceable, that continued application of intermediate scrutiny to sex-based classifications is inconsistent with the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, and that women are entitled to full constitutional equality under the same standard of judicial protection afforded to other protected classes.
The brief does not advocate military conscription as a matter of policy.
Instead, it asks a fundamental constitutional question:
If women may be called upon to fight, sacrifice, and, if necessary, die in defense of the United States, how can they simultaneously be denied equal constitutional protection under the law?
WOMEN HAVE ALREADY PROVEN THEIR EQUAL CAPACITY TO SERVE
Women veterans bring a particularly powerful perspective to the appeal.
Women have deployed to combat zones, commanded units, flown military aircraft, served aboard naval vessels, operated intelligence and cyber systems, provided medical support in hostile environments, and performed countless other duties essential to the defense of the United States.
They have endured prolonged deployments, separation from their families, physical danger, injury and disability. Some have lost fellow servicemembers.
Women now serve throughout the Armed Forces, including in positions that were categorically closed to them when the Supreme Court decided Rostker v. Goldberg in 1981 and upheld male-only Selective Service registration.
The amicus brief argues that decades of military experience have fundamentally undermined the factual assumptions upon which that decision rested.
Modern military service is determined by ability, commitment and performance — not sex.
Yet federal law continues to classify potential military obligation as principally male.
That contradiction has consequences beyond Selective Service itself.
As the amici explain, continuing to treat military responsibility as fundamentally male reinforces the broader notion that women occupy a different constitutional status whenever government classifies Americans on the basis of sex.
EQUAL OBLIGATION REQUIRES EQUAL PROTECTION
Women have already demonstrated their willingness and ability to accept the highest obligations of citizenship.
What remains unresolved is whether the Constitution will recognize them as fully equal.
The amicus brief argues that equal civic obligation and equal constitutional protection cannot be separated.
Women cannot be considered equal enough to fight for the Constitution while remaining insufficiently equal to receive its full protection.
The brief concludes:
“Women who stand ready to defend the Constitution are entitled to its full protection.”
That principle lies at the heart of EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s appeal.
The Equal Rights Amendment completed the state ratification process when Nevada ratified in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia became the thirty-eighth state to ratify in 2020.
Yet the federal government has continued to refuse recognition of the ERA, while courts continue to evaluate sex discrimination under a lesser constitutional standard than discrimination based on race.
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL is challenging both.
Equality cannot mean one standard of constitutional protection for men and another for women.
49 AMICI STANDING TOGETHER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL is deeply grateful to the organizations that stood with us in this historic appeal:
Lead Amici
National Women’s Political Caucus
National Women Veterans United
International Association of Military Women of Color
Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN)
Amici Coalition
A Luminous Mind Productions, Inc.
AAUW, Brainerd, MN
AAUW of Michigan
American Medical Women’s Association
Bienstar Human Services
California Commission on the Status of Women & Girls
CalPride
Center for Policing Equity
City of West Hollywood
Columbia, North Carolina National Organization of Women
Combat Sexual Assault
Desiree Alliance
Feminists in Struggle
Georgia Green Party
Georgia National Organization of Women
Global Faith and Justice Project
Happy Chic’s
Her Service Matters
Indivisible Lincoln Square
In Progress Productions
Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma
Jewish Women International
Justice and Joy Collaborative
Lunch Therapy
Moral Injury Support Networks for Servicewomen, Inc.
Muslims for Progressive Values
National Black Justice Collective
National Council of Jewish Women – Chicago North Shore
National Organization of Women – Albuquerque
National Women Veterans United-Rockford Chapter
Ni-ta-nee National Organization of Women
Akron National Organization of Women
Raleigh National Organization of Women
Ohio Equal Rights
Ohio Federation of Business and Professional Women
Ohio National Organization of Women
Pennsylvania Religious Coalition for Reproductive Justice
Rethinking Eve, LLC
Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee
Santa Fe National Organization of Women
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Tampa Bay, FL
The Susan Jolley Foundation
Title Nine
Will County National Organization of Women
Women’s eNews
These organizations span geography, profession, faith, politics, military service, civil rights, health, advocacy and community organizing.
Their missions differ. Their message to the Court is united:
Women who bear equal obligations are entitled to equal constitutional protection.
[READ THE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF]
[READ EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’S OPENING BRIEF]
[SUPPORT EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’S FIGHT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY]
For seventeen years, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL has worked to secure full constitutional equality for women through public education, coalition building, national advocacy and strategic litigation.
The fight continues.
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL. Because equality is not optional.
