Thursday, October 1, 2026
As a college professor who has long been involved in civic engagement programs and voter education at Nassau Community College, where I’ve taught for 23 years, I look forward to Constitution Week. From Sept. 17 to 23, educators around the country will teach students about the Constitution, their civic rights and responsibilities, and how their voices, and votes, count because they contribute to a stronger democracy for us all.
This week, I’ll be focused not only on this bipartisan responsibility, but also on the November midterm elections — and on one of the most frustrating and misunderstood chapters of constitutional history, the saga of the Equal Rights Amendment. If you’re under the impression that equal rights for all citizens, regardless of sex, are the law of the land in the United States, you have plenty of company, but that’s not the case. Even though this landmark legislation has been approved by both houses of Congress and by 38 states — the requisite three-quarters of the states necessary to ratify an amendment — it is still not part of the Constitution.
How can this be, when Article V of the Constitution clearly explains the rules by which it can be amended, and Congress and state legislatures have satisfied those rules?
The problem is the legislation’s time-limit loophole. In 1972, when both the House of Representatives and the Senate had passed the ERA, it faced a deadline imposed by Congress for the required ratification by the states — first seven years, then extended to 10 years. By the end of that decade, 35 states had approved the amendment, just three states short of what was needed.
Its time was up — even if the deadline was nothing more than a provision added by Congress that could, and still can, be removed by a future Congress to move the legislation forward. When three more states ratified the amendment — Nevada (2017), Illinois (2018) and Virginia (2020) — that milestone should have been enough to certify the Constitution’s 28th Amendment. But since then, the legislation has stalled in Congress: Opponents have relied on filibusters, pointing to the expired timeline, while advocates have called out the arbitrary nature of the deadline and argued for its revocation.
The current national campaign for the ERA, backed by more than 300 organizations across the country and many thousands of people who have signed petitions supporting it, is making a persuasive case to the public — and candidates running for Congress this fall — that amendment requirements have been fulfilled and constitutional equality is long overdue.
The nation observed Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26, commemorating the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. But even the fearless suffragist Alice Paul knew that voting rights were just the beginning of codifying gender equality in the nation’s laws; she knew that grave inequalities remained for women in politics, education, employment and health care. That’s why Paul introduced the ERA in 1923, and why gender-equality advocates have introduced it in every congressional session since.
Over a century later, it’s time for the ERA to not only be reintroduced in Congress, but also enshrined in the Constitution — ideally by the 120th Congress, which will convene in January. I know that in November, I’ll be voting for candidates who support the work that Paul started — and that the late, great journalist Gloria Steinem continued with her bold exposés on sexual harassment, pay inequality and pregnancy discrimination in Ms. magazine.
I’m grateful that my congressional representative, Laura Gillen, is one of 219 U.S. representatives, 53 senators, and all those citizen activists who have affirmed their support for the ERA. Please join this historic campaign, making it clear to our lawmakers that the equal rights movement won’t rest until a future Congress acts. Go to Sign4ERA.org and add your signature. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Constitution Week — and to make history — than that.
Susan Cushman, Ph.D., is a professor of English and women’s studies at Nassau Community College and a member of the League of Women Voters of East Nassau.
