Opinion

Letter: Zonta backs ERA to empower women, girls

Apr 9, 2019

By Lucinda Boyd

As our Maricopa Community prepares for the new overpass and roadways, the new growth and development that is coming to our city is welcoming. We are proud of our Multigenerational Copper Sky facility, the fields are being used for tournaments and people are coming into our community from all over the US, many say they are the best fields in state and beyond. Thanks to those who made this a possibility.

It is a good time to reflect on the role of women in our community. Many changes in our community are a result of leadership from women in our community, whether it be at the city level, through community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, volunteer organizations and women’s organizations. Our voices are strong.

Yet in 2019, the United States and Arizona still have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, passed out of Congress in 1972 as a bipartisan issue. Arizona has always been a leader in women’s rights.

On Saturday, April 6, 2019, Area 5 of Zonta International, the Zonta clubs of Maricopa, Casa Grande, Tucson, Nogales, Phoenix and East Valley Phoenix met in Maricopa and endorsed the ratification by Arizona of the Equal Rights Amendment. We are women, activists in our communities dedicated to the goals of Zonta International — to be part of a global community working together to empower women and girls. Thus, it is particularly frustrating to us that we are still working for constitutional equality here in Arizona.

We urge legislators to vote for ratification of the ERA. Bills are still before the Legislature in HCR 2030, 1009 and SCR 1006. We are not giving up until equality, in our Constitution, is a reality. Some of us have been in this fight for a very long time, some of us have just joined, but we will be watching and asking those running in 2020 “Did you support women’s equality in 2019?”

Lucinda Boyd is the president of Zonta Club of Maricopa.