Women Take To The Streets Of NYC Demanding Equal Rights Amendment Be Added To U.S. Constitution
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Monday is International Women's Day.
To celebrate, hundreds of people from the Tri-State Area came out Sunday to honor female leaders and to call for action.
They said it's time for the Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the U.S. Constitution, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
"We cannot take our rights for granted," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
In Washington Square Park on Sunday, there was a bold, boisterous demand for full equality for women. A crowd of several hundred were on hand drumming it up.
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They were asking why the ERA is still absent from the Constitution after many decades of bipartisan support.
"It's time. They have the votes they need. They need to pass the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, and make sure that women get equal treatment," said Kimberly Miller of Maplewood, New Jersey.
This fight to outlaw in the Constitution discrimination based on gender started in 1923 and ramped up in the 1970s. But it took until last year to get to the needed 38 states behind the measure, when Virginia voted to ratify.
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But that came after a long-lapsed deadline, and it keeps the ERA's future in a legal grey area.
"We need to call on Congress to lift the ratification deadline on the ERA," Lieberman said.
Sunday's rally also included a thank you to a host of pioneering women political leaders, their faces on posters held up during the group's march to Union Square.
Allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came up at the rally.
"Andrew Cuomo needs to be investigated," Miller said. "The only way we're going to get to equal rights for women is if men take the initiative. We can shout and shout and scream and march all we want, but until men get it, things will never change."
The month of March is Women's History Month, and the women in attendance Sunday said this is the time to make strong new strides.