Seattle mayor on Equal Rights Amendment: 'Progress takes persistence'
Campaign to ratify the equal rights amendments
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson will sign a giant copy of a petition to make the equal rights amendment part of the U.S. Constitution.
SEATTLE - Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson added her signature to a national petition Monday, joining advocates at City Hall to call for the recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The signing was part of the "Driving the Vote for Equality" tour. Organizers of the cross-country campaign say they are fighting for the full constitutional rights of women.
Retracing suffrage history
The event featured volunteers dressed in suffrage-era costumes and a vintage 1914 Golden Flyer II roadster. The vehicle is the same model used by two suffragists who traveled across the United States in 1916 during the campaign for women’s voting rights.
1914 Golden Flyer II roadster
More than a century later, the current tour is retracing that original route, which included a stop in Seattle.
What they're saying:
"They understood something that is still true today," Mayor Wilson said during the event. "Progress takes persistence. The people behind movements for equality are often told to wait, to slow down."
Mayor Katie Wilson at City Hall signs petition on ratifying the 28th Equal Rights Amendment
The path to the 28th Amendment
First proposed in 1923, the ERA seeks to guarantee equality of rights under the law regardless of sex. To become part of the Constitution, the amendment required approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.
While supporters state that all necessary requirements for ratification were met as of 2020, the amendment's status remains a subject of debate.
Seeking congressional action
Advocates are now calling on Congress to pass a joint resolution affirming that the ERA has achieved all legal requirements for adoption.
Supporters argue that such an act would eliminate legal concerns regarding the original time limit set for the amendment's ratification.
The "Driving the Vote for Equality" tour will continue its journey across the country, with its next scheduled stop in Spokane.
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