STATEN ISLAND, NY — Stapleton resident Lorie Honor wasted no time after the 2024 election results came out.

While she was happy Proposition 1 of New York passed — which will enshrine abortion rights and equality for all people in the Empire State constitution — her goal is to work nationally to have the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) formally added to the US Constitution.

“We’ve done this 27 times in the history of our Constitution, including civil rights and the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote,” said Honor, who is a co-founder of Staten Island. women marching and chief of staff for Equality in votinga national organization whose mission is to raise awareness that gender equality is not in the US Constitution. “Revisions to our Constitution were meant to be difficult and rigorous. You can’t just decide you want to change the Constitution. This is why many states need to sign up.”

After the passage of Proposition 1 in New York, Honor headed to Washington, DC to work with Vote Equality and many other groups to bring awareness to the ERA.

“The problem with the ERA is that people either think it’s dead or it’s done,” Honor said. “When people find out it’s not in the Constitution, they say, ‘What do you mean?’ Some people think it’s too old, or nobody wanted it. There’s a lot of similar misinformation out there… But 90 percent of Americans agree with the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Why isn’t the ERA in the Constitution?

According to the ERA: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have power to carry into effect, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

When written in 1923, ERA promised equal rights for women, but it wasn’t until 1972 that Congress proposed the amendment be added to the US Constitution. To be added to the Constitution, however, three-quarters of the states had to ratify it. And that didn’t happen by the legal deadline of June 30, 1982.

But several states continued to ratify the ERA despite the passing of the deadline. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to approve the amendment. Since then, some lawmakers and many equal rights activists have lobbied for the amendment to be added to the Constitution. Former President Donald Trump rejected the idea in 2020. And the groups are now urging President Joe Biden to add the amendment to the Constitution before he leaves office on Jan. 20, 2025.

“In early 2020, Trump instructed the archivist not to publish it. Executive permission must be granted. But right now, it’s like a formality,” Honor said. “President Biden said he would sign it in the first 100 days, but he never did.”

One Note from the White House Biden said, “I have been a strong supporter of the ERA since I first ran for Senate when I was 29 years old. We must recognize the clear will of the American people and permanently enshrine the principle of gender equality in the Constitution. It is long past time to end any doubt.”

Honor, along with several other Staten Island women, as well as ERA advocates across the country, are lobbying to sign the ERA into law.

“We’re getting people to sign postcards to the president that we’re going to mail on December 10th. Our goal is to have 28,000 postcards to mark the 28th Amendment, and December 10th to mark the 101st anniversary of when the ERA was first submitted to Congress for ratification,” she said. “We also work alongside activist artists Michele Lecturer and Maggie O’Neil (www.vote for your daughter).”

Passage of Sentence 1

The passage of Proposition 1 allows the New York Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the State Constitution.

It says: “No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or of any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed(s), religion or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcome, and reproductive health care, and autonomy, to be subjected to any discrimination in their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation or institution or by the State or any agency or subdivision of the State, in in accordance with the law.”

Proposition 1 adds language to the amendment that would “prevent or eliminate discrimination” based on protected characteristics. Additionally, it would prohibit anyone from “interfering with, limiting or denying” someone’s civil rights.

“Our Staten Island Prop 1 team was out in force to have honest conversations with voters across the island, and I’m so glad that our lean and happy team participated in such an important victory for equality,” Honor said.

Crystal Armstrong, a North Shore resident and one of the many Staten Islanders who worked with Honor on her postcard effort to bring awareness to Proposition 1, said its passage was “a victory.”

“That’s really big, especially knowing that there are a lot of states that haven’t had that luxury,” she added.

After working with Honor on the postcard campaign, Jasmine “Jasi” Robinson, district leader of the 61st Assembly District, said she is happy that Proposition 1 will be added to the New York Constitution. “But we have to keep fighting for equal rights,” she said.