RESOLUTION OF THE MANASSAS AND MANASSAS PARK CITIES DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE IN SUPPORT OF RATIFICATION BY THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

WHEREAS, the United States Constitution does not explicitly guarantee equal rights and equal protection for the sexes; and

WHEREAS, for 47 years, the Commonwealth of Virginia State Constitution has protected Virginians from discrimination by the Commonwealth on the basis of sex; and

WHEREAS, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and state constitutional statements of equality generally do not provide the strict scrutiny for sex-based classifications that is provided for classifications based on race, religion and national origin; and

WHEREAS, state laws are not uniform and federal laws are not comprehensive, and these laws can be repealed or reduced; and

WHEREAS, the people of the United States continue to experience the negative effects of lack of political parity between men and women, workplace discrimination, health care inequities, disparate rates of poverty, rape, and domestic violence assaults; and

WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment would provide the “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” and the Amendment would help ensure women and men have the same constitutional protections; and

WHEREAS, without the Equal Rights Amendment, the statutes and judicial decisions that have led to major advances in women’s rights are vulnerable to being ignored, weakened, or even repealed or reversed; and

WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment would help ensure that women and men have the same constitutional protections; and

WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, and has been ratified by 37 states, the most recent being Nevada in 2017 and Illinois in 2018 and the time limit for the ERA appears only in the preamble and Congress presently is considering a bill that removes the time limit for ratification of the ERA; and

WHEREAS, constitutional equality for women and men continues to be a timely issue in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the United States and worldwide, and 134 other nations have achieved constitutional equality for their women and men;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Manassas and Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee hereby supports the passage, ratification, and implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment so that women are guaranteed equal rights under the law and so that these rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Manassas and Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee urges the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, as proposed by Congress in 1972, during the 2019 Virginia legislative session.

Adopted unanimously by the Manassas and Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee on January 16, 2019