It has been a long time coming, but we can finally see the finish line on the horizon. The fight to include the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution of the United States is entering the critical decisive stages.
We all know what is at stake. The ERA would protect women, children, families, our communities and our future. More specifically, the ERA would generate economic growth with increased educational opportunities, mandated equal pay, and expanded health care coverage. Everyone benefits when equal truly means equal.
Our argument in favor of the ERA is so strong that our opponents are adopting the tactics of deceit, deception and demagoguery to attack. The notorious anti-equality group Eagle Forum recently went so far as to make the dangerous argument that, “Some troubling developments indicate that ERA would harm women, not help women.”
These dark forces that oppose equality of any kind are raising money, rounding up their allies and preparing to put every available resource into doing whatever it takes to stop the ERA from becoming a reality. We need your help to fend off the onslaught from the enemies of the ERA.
We have seen firsthand what our opponents are capable of, but they too know what Equal Means Equal has accomplished in its pursuit of the ERA with our successful “three state strategy.” Equal Means Equal does more than just provide lip service for the cause. We are a boots-on-the-ground activist, advocacy and educational organization with a proven a record of engagement, action and results.
Our grassroots organizing, activism and legislative lobbying in Nevada and Illinois led to those states becoming the first to ratify the ERA since the 1970’s. Just last month, after years of legwork in Virginia, we shifted our strategy to the ballot box. Equal Means Equal moved the team to Virginia, recruited a loyal cadre of activists and concerned citizens, and waged a creative multimedia advocacy campaign and get out the vote effort. A pro-ERA candidate was elected in the battleground district we called home, leading the way to the removal of the anti-ERA leadership that controlled the General Assembly.
Virginia is now poised to ratify the ERA in early 2020, but we cannot take that for granted. Our opponents are already lining up to try to block ratification in Virginia and are deploying an army of lawyers to try to halt our progress in the courts.
We must remain vigilant, but we need your help. We need to keep up our organization on the ground and active in Virginia to ensure our opponents do not resort to legislative chicanery to keep the state from becoming the 38th to ratify the ERA. We also need to prepare for the ultimate showdown in the courts.
We are closer than at any time in American history to making ERA the 28th amendment to our United States Constitution, but we are not at the finish line yet. When you are considering what it is you want to do tomorrow on Giving Tuesday to advance the principles that guide you, we ask that you please consider contributing to the fight for equality for every American. We are so close, but we need your help with a tax-deductible donation to cross that finish line.
Sincerely,
Kamala Lopez
President, Equal Means Equal
Natalie White
Vice President, Equal Means Equal
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