Harrisonburg Mayor supports equal rights amendment petition
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The Equal Rights Amendment has the full support of Harrisonburg’s mayor, Deanna Reed.
The joint resolution of the bill would remove the time limit, clearing the way for the amendment’s enshrinement to the constitution.
The Mayor of Harrisonburg went to Richmond to sign a petition that its creators hope the new initiative, Mayors for ERA, will build grand support for the amendment.
“We need 1 million signatures on this petition they were asking everyone to decide we may be going to a hostile Supreme Court and we want to make sure that the weight of public opinion is for equality of opportunity for everyone,” Equal Rights Amendment Ratification Bill Co-Sponsor Carolyn B. Maloney said.
The Equal Rights Amendment fulfilled all constitutional requirements in 2020 when Virginia filled the last slot of support.
Mayor Reed says her signature kickstarts her involvement, and she was ready to support the petition from how equal rights have influenced Harrisonburg’s leadership since her first day in office in 2016.
“Seven years later we are a majority-woman council, so that is why I do this work. That’s why it’s important that I’m part of this process. So, no this is not the end. I’m in it until it’s passed,” Mayor Reed said.
According to the coalition, Virginia ratified the ERA Amendment in 2020, The Equal Rights Amendment cleared all necessary requirements in Article 5 of the Constitution: passage through the House, passage through the Senate, and ratification by 38 states. Although ratified, Congress has yet to formally recognize the Amendment, because of an arbitrary deadline.
Mayor Reed is the second mayor to ever sign the petition, stressing that women’s rights are human rights. The number of signatures back the call on Congress to make the ERA part of the US Constitution, guaranteeing gender equality.
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