| Updated: 1:44 a.m.
Roughly 50 supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment gathered Tuesday outside the state Capitol, where lawmakers were wrapping up the final week of the general legislative session after, once again, not holding a hearing on whether Utah should ratify the federal amendment.
“There have been successes and losses this year for the state of women in Utah, but today I celebrate the recognition of shared ideals,” Emily Bell McCormick, co-chairwoman of the Utah ERA Coalition and founder of The Policy Project, said in a statement.
“There are many ideological overlaps that Republicans and Democrats can get behind,” she said, and that includes “constitutional equality for women and men.”
SALT LAKE CITY About 50 people gathered at the statue of Seraph Young on Tuesday at the Utah Capitol to urge legislators to pass a resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution on equality for women s rights.
The Utah Equal Rights Amendment Coalition hosted the midmorning rally in the last days of the legislative session. The hushed crowd s interest focused on advocates who came to speak for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The value we speak of today is constitutional equality for women and men. Such is the Equal Rights Amendment and such is a progression of this ideal in our home, Utah; a state that saw the need for gender equality in 1895 and enshrined that right in our state constitution, said Emily Bell McCormick, executive committee member of the Utah ERA Coalition.
Senate Joint Resolution 8, which would have Utah ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, looks unlikely to make progress in the state's 2021 legislative session, but ERA supporters are pleased that the resolution garnered bipartisan support in Utah this year.