Minnesotans believe in fairness, freedom, and the dignity of every person. For more than 50 years, people across our state have worked to make those values real for everyone. In 1973, Minnesota became the 26th state to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment. When the federal effort stalled, Minnesotans didn’t give up. They turned their focus to writing equality into our own state constitution.

In 2014, advocates founded ERA Minnesota. This all-volunteer organization kept the promise of equality alive at the Capitol and in communities across Minnesota for more than a decade. Their persistence and belief in a fairer future laid the groundwork for the campaign we’re building today.

Over those years, our understanding of what equality requires grew deeper. The original ERA, first introduced in Congress in 1923, sought to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. Today’s Minnesota ERA builds on that foundation with a simple conviction: everyone deserves to be treated fairly, no matter who they are, where they come from, or who they love. Discrimination rarely targets just one part of who someone is, and the protections we write into law should reflect that. States like Nevada and New York have adopted ERAs that protect people across race, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more. Minnesota advocates embraced that broader vision and built an ERA that protects all of us, because equality that leaves some people out isn’t equality.

That shared commitment has brought us closer than ever. In 2023, the Minnesota Senate passed an inclusive state ERA with bipartisan support. In 2024, the House passed a more robust and explicit version that protects Minnesotans from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, and sex, including pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. But the session ended before the Senate could take a final vote. In 2025, the ERA was reintroduced, and supporters packed the Capitol on the session’s opening day to call for its passage.

Behind that push is Minnesotans for Equal Rights, a coalition formed in 2024 with Gender Justice and Gender Justice Action as its organizational home. The coalition brings together labor, faith, immigrant rights, disability justice, racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, and reproductive freedom groups, united by the belief that every Minnesotan deserves equal protection under the law. Together, we’re finishing the job: passing the ERA through the Legislature and letting Minnesota voters decide. We’re building a movement of voters and champions who believe equality belongs to everyone.