Dear equality supporter, Last week, the Trump administration formally removed Biden administration-era Title IX regulations and restored rules from his first term. The rules under the Biden administration had extended the ban on sex discrimination to LGBTQ+ students and expanded the harassment complaints schools had to investigate. Both are now gone. This is the third rewrite in a decade, and what schools must investigate depends on those changes. These changes are possible because the Constitution does not explicitly guarantee equality on the basis of sex. Courts review race and religion-based discrimination under "strict scrutiny", the highest standard. Without the ERA, sex-based discrimination is reviewed by the Court using a lower one -- intermediate scrutiny -- so its protections stay open to revisions. Survivors live with the result. A former Cornell student, identified in court filings as "Jane Doe," is suing the university and seven Chi Phi members, alleging she was drugged and raped at a fraternity house in October 2024. Her case is not an outlier:
Different cases, same outcome: accountability came after lawsuits and investigations, not from a standard institutions had to meet. The courts have confirmed the gap. In 1994, Christy Brzonkala said two Virginia Tech football players raped her. The school's process failed her, so she sued under a federal law that let survivors take their attackers to court. In 2000, the Supreme Court struck that law down. A survivor lost her legal path, and the Constitution had no clear language protecting equality based on sex to fall back on. The Equal Rights Amendment would supply the missing standard: equality on the basis of sex as a permanent constitutional guarantee that must answered to. Survivors shouldn't have to hope the next Administration agrees the sexual violence they have endured matters. Sex equality should be in the Constitution. Zakiya Thomas, President & CEO - ERA Coalition and ERA Coalition Forward |
