MARCH, 1978
1-12-78: Georgia defeated ERA by a unanimous vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
1-31-68: Alabama defeated ERA by a Senate vote of 24 to 8.
2-7-78: South Carolina defeated ERA by a Senate vote of 23 to 18.
2-9-78: Virginia defeated ERA by a vote of 12 to 8 in the House Privileges and Elections Committee.
2-22-78: Florida announced that the Legislature will not vote on ERA this year. The sponsor removed it from the schedule because there are not enough votes to pass it.
Early in 1978, the ERA proponents announced on the CBS-TV News that they were pinning their best hopes on South Carolina. They thought they had the votes. But it wasn’t even close.
The pro-ERAers had boasted all over the country that ERA would be ratified in Virginia this year. They were confident of victory because the Virginia Legislature had had its elections in November 1977, and the Chairman of the Privileges and Elections Committee, Delegate Jim Thomson had been defeated. The Committee had a 50 percent change in membership.
In the weeks before the vote, the pro-ERAers spent thousands of dollars on paid lobbyists, advertising, headquarters offices, and daily press releases.
When ERA was defeated on February 9, the ERAers staged what the press described as a “chaotic” demonstration. It was much like the anti-war protests of the 1960s.
Two ERA lobbyists were arrested after they held a sit-in in the Capitol driveway — Marianne Fowler, coordinator of Virginia ERA-PAC, and Jean Clarke, state coordinator for NOW (National Organization for Women). They were charged with causing a disturbance at a public building. They had staged a sit-in in the Capitol driveway so the legislators could not get their automobiles out.
Ms. Fowler was also charged with assaulting a Capitol police officer and spitting in his face. When asked about it, Ms. Fowler said, “Yes, I spit on him and kicked him.” She called the policemen “pigs” and called the legislators “dried up, withered old men.” Referring to the 12-to-8 Committee vote against ERA, others chanted, “Get the dirty dozen.”
The ERA defeat of Delegate Jim Thomson proved to be counterproductive. He was a popular legislator and it is probable that ERA lost a couple of votes just because the ERA proponents bragged about beating Thomson. The ERA boycott of Virginia apple growers also turned many people against ERA. That was hardly the way to win friends and influence people!
The pictures below, showing the behavior of the ERA proponents after the vote, illustrate why ERA is now dead in Virginia. No one believes it will ever come up again there.
