Meryl Streep Appeals to Members of Congress to Put the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Into the Constitution

Los Angeles, CA, June 24, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​June 23, 2015, Washington, DC./ Los Angeles 

In support of the new ERA Coalition campaign, today five hundred thirty-five letters personally signed by Meryl Streep are being delivered to each and every Member of Congress. The letters urge lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for women. “I am writing to ask you to stand up for equality – for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself – by actively supporting the Equal Rights Amendment,” Ms. Streep wrote. “The ERA is not just a women’s rights issue,” she noted, “it will have a meaningful benefit for the whole human family.” With each letter, Meryl Streep enclosed a copy of the book Equal Means Equal: Why the Time for the ERA is Now, by Jessica Neuwirth. The founder and President of the ERA Coalition, Ms. Neuwirth said she wrote the book “to show the urgent need for the ERA, highlighting the cases of real women who have suffered harm and were unable to get the legal protection they should have from the Constitution.” 

"The ERA is not just a women's rights issue it will have a meaningful benefit for the whole human family." -Meryl Streep

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The ERA Coalition was founded last year to build a broader base of public support for ongoing efforts to put the ERA into the Constitution. Ms. Streep joins a growing number of prominent individuals and celebrities who have publicly reaffirmed their commitment to the Equal Rights Amendment including former President Jimmy Carter, Chelsea Handler, Rashida Jones, Jane Fonda, Tavis Smiley, Taylor Schilling, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, Patricia Arquette and Gloria Steinem, who serves on the board of the ERA Coalition. In writing to Members of Congress, Streep said, “I am adding my voice to the long term efforts of others in the campaign to have the rights of the majority of Americans, who were not considered equal citizens by the framers of the Constitution, included and secured by virtue of an Amendment. “ 

Streep famously cheered on Patricia Arquette in her Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Boyhood," in a clip that went viral. After thanking cast and crew, Arquette said, “To every woman who gave birth. To every tax payer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America.” 

Patricia Arquette is Executive Producer of a soon-to-be-released documentary film EQUAL MEANS EQUAL by Kamala Lopez. The documentary takes an unflinching look at where American women find themselves and makes an irrefutable case for their full, legal equality. In solidarity with the book and its’ mission, Lopez said, “When I began this journey six years ago, I never could have imagined the scope of what I would learn. I discovered that despite multiple laws in place that purport to protect American Women, the reality was far from equal in area after area. Radifying the ERA would put American women's civil and human rights on a solid immovable foundation, impervious to the winds of political change." 

Several bills related to the ERA have been recently introduced in Congress - by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) in the House, and by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in the Senate. 

The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972. It had been ratified by 35 states when the deadline for ratification expired in 1982, just three states short of the 38 states needed to put the ERA into the Constitution. The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014. It has more than fifty organizational members.