The City of Long Beach and local nonprofit The Feminist Uprising recently announced that Mayor Rex Richardson has decreed Dec. 10 as Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Day to highlight the fight for constitutional gender equality.
The date marks the anniversary of the introduction of the ERA to Congress on Dec. 10, 1923. The ERA was created to ensure sex would not be used as a basis for discrimination under the law, with the text including statements such as “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
The ERA proposal passed both houses of Congress by a two-thirds majority in 1972 and was ratified by three-fourths of the states by January 2020 — but it has not been fully adopted as part of the U.S. Constitution.
“On behalf of the City of Long Beach, we honor and thank the trailblazing women whose bravery and unwavering dedication will be remembered for years to come,” said Richardson in a public statement.
The ERA Day announcement serves to bring further attention and support to its existence and is a call for people to continue advocating for its ratification and implementation.
