PRESS ADVISORY   
For Immediate Release 
Contact: Suzann Willhite  suzann@eramn.org  (612) 554-4008
                Betty Folliard     betty.folliard@gmail.com  (612) 868-3511

January 24, 2022

ERAMN Announces #Day1forERA Rally

Saint Paul -  ERA Minnesota (ERAMN, https://www.eramn.org) is holding a huge rally called #Day1forERA on Monday, January 31, 2022, at 11am in the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda. All are invited.

Confirmed speakers thus far are: Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Senate Minority Leader Melisa López Franzen, Senators Scott Dibble, Mary Kunesh, Jennifer McEwen, Sandy Pappas, Chuck Wiger, and Representatives Kristin Bahner, Kaohly Vang Her, Frank Hornstein, and Rena Moran.

Cosponsors to date include:
AAUW - Mpls, Alliance of Medical Graduates, Breaking Free, Education Minnesota, ​GenderJustice, GenERAtionRatify MN, Island & Discarded Women, Isuroon, League of Women Voters (LWV) - Mpls., LWV-MN, LWV-St. Paul, AFL-CIO MN, MN Move to Amend,  MN Now, Minnesota Protests, MN Renewable Now, Mom's Demand Action MN, National Council of Jewish Women -MN, OneMN, RISE - Reviving Sisterhood, Rock What You Got, Save our Sons MN, transforming families, UniteWomen-MN, VH4Change,  Women Winning, Women's March MN, 

This Thursday, January 27, 2022, the 28th Amendment becomes enforceable in the courts for cases based on sex discrimination, having been properly ratified by the 38 states on January 27, 2020 and thereby achieving all constitutional requirements to become the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution. As of that date, the two-year waiting period before final enactment specified in the amendment will have expired. 

Never in the history of this country has an amendment to The Constitution, having achieved all constitutional requirements set out by Article V (that is, adopted by 2/3 of Congress and ratified by 3/4 states) been stalled by an arbitrary time limit, until women’s rights were on the table. We’re done waiting.

ERA Minnesota, along with 86 Business & Corporate Entities, 24 states, over fifty national Coalitions and Advocates for Equality & Women’s Rights, International Organizations, the United Conference of Mayors, a host of top Constitutional Law Professors and many others, is on federal litigation (https://VoteEquality.US/FAQ/Virginia-v-Ferriero) to ensure final enactment of the 28th Amendment. 

ERAMN's goal is to finally pass the long overdue ERA into our state constitution and enshrine equality for all in the US Constitution. We will showcase 11 ERA bills currently before the Minnesota Legislature and share the new ERA COMPLIANCE BILL being introduced this Session.

Last year the US Congress passed a bill to rescind the arbitrary time limit that was imposed on women’s rights. Nationally, advocates’ energies are now aimed at the US Senate. And at the Minnesota Capitol, our goal is to declare this year the year to finally make Equality legal by passing our ERA legislation.

We welcome the press to our #Day1forERA Rally.
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ERA Minnesota is a coalition of advocates and organizations dedicated to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into our federal & state constitutions. Founded in 2014.  The federal ERA simply states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” ​

My Visit to the State Capitol on International Women's Day.
By Maria S.

I was at the Minnesota State Capitol on March 8th, International Women’s Day, to rally and lobby for the Equal Rights Amendment.  I happened to have a couple of minutes with my State Senator Mary Kiffmeyer.  When I asked her if she would support ERA she said that she did not support it and would not vote for it.  I was too shocked to even know what to say if she would have asked.

For those who do not know, the Equal Rights Amendment simply states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”  See below for a short history of the ERA. In Minnesota we are working on:

1.  A vote to put the Equal Rights Amendment on the November ballot to be added to the Minnesota Constitution.
2.  A vote to pass a resolution asking the federal congress to remove the time limit that was put on ratification to the US Constitution.

Senator Kiffmeyer does not agree this should happen.  She said that things are getting better for women slowly and that, “It should bubble up from the bottom.”  She used her own family as an example, how her grandmother, mother and sisters all worked hard and did well.  We can appreciate that Senator Kiffmeyer her family have certainly worked hard and accomplished much to be proud of.  However, every woman has a different set of circumstances and may not be able to overcome the obstacles in her way.  Nor should any woman have to accept not having the same rights as men, earning less than a man for the same job, being charged more for insurance, etc.  Senator Kiffmeyer has the opportunity to help other women and vote yes to amend the constitution so that women are not punished for simply being female.  There is so much evidence that even today women have to work twice as hard as a man to get ahead.

We as women owe a debt to the women before us who in their fight for women’s suffrage marched and rallied, were beaten and imprisoned so we would have the right to vote.  Other women before us fought against the odds and won elections to serve in the government that paved the way for Senator Kiffmeyer.  Aren’t we charged with paying it forward to future generations of women to make the world a better, more fair place with equal rights for all citizens?

If you are a woman or a man who cares about the females in your life, your mother, wife, sister, daughter, girlfriend, or friend, know that Senator Kiffmeyer who should be working to make our lives better, protecting citizens and working to insure that all citizens are treated fairly will not support amending the constitution to insure that you or the women in your life have the same rights as men.  But there are many women and men in this state and this country who are continuing to fight for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.  You can learn more about the ERA (www.eramn.org), watch the documentary “Equal Means Equal” (www.equalmeansequal.com), talk to your family and friends, contact your legislators and demand that they support the ERA and VOTE for the person who supports the things that are important to you.  Then hold them responsible for what they say, how they behave and how they vote.  Our lives are literally in their hands.
A short history: The ERA was first introduced in Congress by Alice Paul in 1923.  It was finally passed by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification.  Thirty-eight states were needed to ratify it to make it law, however a time limit of 1979, later extended to 1982, was placed on the ERA, only one of two amendments that has ever required a time limit. In 1973 Minnesota ratified the ERA but did not go through the process of adding it to the Minnesota Constitution. By 1982 only 35 states had ratified the amendment, 3 states short.  For over 30 years the ERA was shelved, however there is a new movement to see it ratified.  People across the US are calling for the removal of the 1982 deadline and push to get it ratified fully.  This movement is having great success.  In 2017 Nevada became the 36th state to ratify.  

We need a show of force on the first day of session (Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018) to let the legislators know we are here, we will be heard and we are not going away!  

Meet us between 11 am - 1 pm -- with the greatest show at noon -- to let the legislature know we are here and the ERA must be an issue to take seriously.  We will hand out "welcome gifts" as reminders.

Meet at the Capitol, second floor
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Wear your ERA shirt or wear green!

​See you there!