Supporters look to get Equal Rights Amendment ratified

TALLAHASSEE (Bay News 9) -- Equality is one of America's guiding principles, but one that's not guaranteed for women by the U.S. Constitution.

Only 35 states of the 38 states needed for the "Equal Rights Amendment" to become law have ratified the amendment.

Supporters of the ERA want Florida to be one of the three states necessary to ratify the proposal to make it law.

According to the Census Bureau, women make about 77 percent of what men do for the same jobs.

Florida State University student Christina El-Far is pursuing her master's degree because she believes it will help her make more money in a work force that, she says, is skewed against women.

"I have a lot of friends who've graduated, and they're in really big companies; and they work in Orlando and big places like that," El-Far said. "And they can definitely see the hit, and the guys above them don't necessarily do much more work than they do. But they're obviously making at least $3,000, $4,000 more than they are a year, and it's kind of ridiculous I guess."

It would take changing the Constitution to make it easier for women to sue over sex discrimination, which is exactly what Sandy Oestreich of the Florida Equal Rights Alliance is trying to do.

"Persons are defined as males that were 18-68, and they did not intend for women to have the vote or equality," Oestreich said. "We were possessions of men. We kind of think that's outdated. We think to make the Constitution relevant, we need to bring it up to speed to what's happening now."

Oestreich said elected officials, such as state House Speaker Marco Rubio, have told her they don't have time for the amendment.

"Put a woman in there and see what she says about that," FSU senior Tara Coyle said. "It's no big deal? Right."

With less than a month to go in Florida's annual legislative session, the Equal Rights Amendment is cleared for a final vote in the House, which it may or may not get. And in the Senate, it's still in the committee process.

15 states that have not ratified the amendment

1. Alabama
   
2. Arizona
   
3. Arkansas
   
4. Florida
   
5. Georgia
   
6. Illinois
   
7. Louisiana
   
8. Mississippi
   
9. Missouri
   
10. Nevada
    
11. North Carolina
    
12. Oklahoma
    
13. South Carolina
14. Utah
    
15. Virginia

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