Resolution for the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA)
The EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT reflects the fundamental moral American value of equality for all. Equal Rights Amendment benefits Society, the Economy & both Men and Women--everyone
Whereas, the Equal Rights Amendment regulates equal treatment for men and women, does not regulate reproduction or same-sex anything, and provides unparalleled benefits to all, and ;
Whereas, the Equal Rights Amendment has never been terminated officially or unofficially, the Equal Rights Amendment is deemed “still viable and timely” by respected legal scholars, by Congressional Research Service, and is now re-ignited due to passage of a 203-year-old amendment, plus other substantive legal arguments, and;
Whereas, recently Florida is the only State to have earned a “Dishonorable Mention” in a comparison study of the status of WOMEN nationwide, and;
Whereas, Equal Rights Amendment would encourage a realistic view of current issues, such as--
For MEN, child custody awards; the draft; immigration, name changes; courts’ reviews of discrimination cases, and;
For WOMEN, equal wages for equal work and for promotion opportunities; full personhood and self-determination; and sexual violence, and;
For FLORIDA and SOCIETY AT LARGE, lower divorce rates, stable communities, and growing economies with an improved business image (e.g., Scandinavian countries), lowered public assistance disbursements, increased revenues; fewer expensive discrimination lawsuits (appreciated by the courts and taxpayers), plus the Equal Rights Amendment costs the State of Florida NOTHING, and;
Whereas, 35 other States have already thoroughly vetted and ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, and are awaiting the implementation of their mandates, and;
Whereas, every constitution and charter created since World War II includes an Equal Rights clause, yet the United States Constitution still does not, and;
Whereas, 88% of citizens in an independent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, NJ (established 1938) recently stated that they believed that equal treatment under the law should be in the U.S. Constitution, and;
Whereas, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Laws, and Florida’s constitution have all proven unreliable before the courts as guarantees of sexual equality, and;
Whereas, the Equal Rights Amendment would provide the necessary Constitutional guarantee of equality of the sexes, and;
Whereas, Floridians overwhelmingly backed the Florida State constitutional Equal Rights Amendment in 1998, and Florida legislators voted it out of Senate Judiciary Committee in 2003, and April 2008, 8-3 bipartisan, and;
Whereas, many Florida legislators of all Parties; the cities of Miami, Gulfport, Tarpon Springs, N. Redington Beach; 7 newspapers; 326 major organizations with 300,000+ Equal Rights Amendment members, and 49 bill cosponsors have all endorsed Equal Rights Amendment as a worthy nonpartisan, nonprofit, nonsexist, single issue, and;
Whereas, ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment would enhance the dignity of all Americans by proclaiming equality in perpetuity, and would act to propel society toward a more civilized America by unleashing the talents and energies of all people, male and female alike,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this organization will support any legally viable means to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment is hereby proclaimed by this body to be a just and natural implementation of American democratic justice.
