Poll: 80 percent of Virginians support Equal Rights Amendment

A poll released last week indicated overwhelming approval among Virginia voters for the Equal Right Amendment.

Eighty-one percent of voters said they would support state lawmakers ratifying the ERA during their upcoming session, compared to 12 percent who opposed the idea.

The amendment, passed by 37 state legislatures since 1972, would

on the basis of sex.

Proponents hope Virginia will become the 38th and final state needed to ratify the amendment. Opponents, however, argue a deadline imposed by Congress on ratification by states passed decades ago, in 1982.

Democrats in Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro gathered on Tuesday night to discuss efforts to ratify the ERA in the commonwealth.

"We're so close. I mean, it's very exciting," said Beth Daisey, the chair of the Staunton Democratic Committee.

Daisey said there's growing momentum behind the amendment.

"I just think it's really important for people to understand that this really crosses a line an affects every household," she said, "affects every family from pay to human rights and all kinds of things."