State Sen. Pat Spearman testifying to U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing April 30. (Committee video screenshot)
Democratic state Sen. Pat Spearman testified Tuesday in front of the House Judiciary subcommittee’s first hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment in 36 years.
The proposal would amend the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal legal rights regardless of a person’s gender.
“I find it laughable that people born into privilege always debate if those who were not (born into privilege) deserve it,” Spearman said in fiery testimony. “Equality is not a debate. We are born with it. The only thing we are asking with the ERA is we acknowledge the fact that women are born equal to men.”
Congress passed the ERA in the 1970s, but the amendment failed to get the 38 states needed in order to be ratify before the deadline.
Spearman spearheaded efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in the Nevada Legislature in 2015, but it failed. She brought it back again in 2017, and it narrowly passed.
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