Guest Post: A Teen’s Perspective on the ERA and Her Future
June 05, 2025
At every turning point in our nation’s history, change has come because people—especially women—refused to stay silent.
Sojourner Truth stood up and asked, “Ain’t I a woman?” Shirley Chisholm ran for president as an unapologetic Black woman, declaring herself “unbought and unbossed.” Fannie Lou Hamer told the truth of voter suppression and said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Dolores Huerta chanted “Sí, se puede” and helped build a labor movement that centered women's voices. Audre Lorde reminded us that “your silence will not protect you.” Former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was also a shining example of the power of dissent and a reminder to all of us to continue to speak out and act against the oppressive measures in place.
Their courage lit the path we walk today. And now, it’s our turn.
Across the country, words central to gender equality—abortion, affirming care, female, woman, equity, gay, gender, gender-based, gender diversity, gender ideology, LGBTQ, and nonbinary—are being quietly removed from federally funded websites, mission statements, and public programs.
These are not just words. These are acts of justice and policy that have specifically been pushed and advocated for decades, both in and outside of the workplace. Both the private and public sectors' mission statements are to make workspaces more equitable and to alleviate gender gaps. But now, companies all over the country are being forced to remove these words to avoid losing their federal funding. They are being punished for advancing gender equality.
Organizations working to make their spaces inclusive are now being pressured to remove this language or risk losing federal support. This is not neutrality. It is erasure. And it is happening now.
But we are not without power.
We are the voices rising up in classrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms, on social media, and in the streets. We are the organizers, teachers, healthcare workers, students, parents, artists, and voters who refuse to let history move backward.
We are following in the footsteps of those who dissented before us—who spoke truth when it was inconvenient, who stood up when it was dangerous, and who dreamed of a future where justice included everyone.
The ability to dissent formed all of our major civil rights and women's suffrage movements. The 13th Amendment for the dissent of slavery, the 15th Amendment for the dissent of voting suppression, the 19th Amendment for the dissent of gendered voter suppression, and the 28th Amendment for the dissent of national gendered inequality.
Amidst the fear and suppression of ideas and actions of equality, our voices will not be silenced.
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