MANASSAS — Manassas leaders Monday night passed a resolution in support of ratification by the Commonwealth of Virginia of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution.
A similar last fall in Prince William County failed despite heavy lobbying from Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly.
The ERA states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Opponents fear that the ERA may have unintended consequences, such as mixed gender prisons and bathrooms and increased abortions.
The resolution was put forward by Council Member Pamela J. Sebesky. It was seconded by Mark Wolfe.
Councilmember Ken Elston pointed out that Manassas has unisex bathrooms already and the U.S. already permits women to serve in the military.
He spoke favorably of the resolution, saying, “We have an opportunity as a community to make a statement regarding the glacial pace of progress in women’s rights.”
Sebesky added that the resolution has received “wide-reaching bipartisan support” across Virginia. She called for the vote with no further debate or discussion.
It passed, with two “no” votes from Republican Council Members Theresa Coates Ellis and Ian Lovejoy.
The vote passed to a room full of applause. Afterward, Mayor Hal Parrish, II hinted to the crowd that the vote was rushed.
“For me, I knew very little about the Equal Rights Amendment. This council has not taken it up previously until tonight. Normally that’s not the case for issues in the City of Manassas. We normally take things up and talk about them a great deal.” Parrish said.
In stark contrast to Prince William County’s heated debate over the ERA, only two residents spoke during citizen’s time about the ERA – both were in favor of it.
Lovejoy noted in a statement to Potomac Local that “It is very outside of that norm, to at the 11th hour, rush a resolution to the dais…” Lovejoy stated, “When elected officials start doing things outside of normal procedures and lack transparency and a real opportunity for citizen engagement, they invite allegations that those actions are politically motivated rather than good government.”
A recent poll showed that 80 percent of Virginians support the Equal Rights Amendment, though the chance of it passing this year in Virginia is slim due to it being killed in a Virginia House subcommittee last Tuesday.
First introduced in the 1970s, the ERA failed to be ratified by two-thirds of U.S. state legislatures by a federally mandated deadline of in 1982. But the battle for ratification has continued. Now, only one state is needed to ratify the amendment, and supporters hope that Virginia could be the key.
