The Equal Rights Amendment has been in the works for almost 100 years. In 1972, the amendment passed in Congress. Now 50 years later, the required 38 states have voted to ratify the ERA—but it hasn’t yet been added to the U.S. Constitution after the Trump administration blocked the national archivist from certifying and publishing the ERA as the 28th Amendment. But no one is taking that as final.

I’m 20 years old and a senior at Long Island University Global. In conversation with other Gen Zers, here’s why the ERA is important to us and how we see our role in the fight today.