The feminist stars of the hit film 9 to 5 were fired up and aglow last week, along with a constellation of activists, filmmakers, writers and celebs at the Hollywood premiere of Still Working 9 to 5. Or as Equal Rights Amendment activist and actor Patricia Arquette told this reporter, “We got some badass broads here tonight.”
The ERA Coalition Forward awarded Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton (in attendance via a pre-recorded video) with the Women’s Equality Trailblazer Award for their fearless work to bring the film—with its still relevant message—to fruition, as well as Fonda and Tomlin’s steadfast commitment to getting the ERA enshrined in the Constitution.
As Tomlin told Ms., “The ERA is fundamental to the culture. We’re one of the few industrialized countries that does not have some kind of law… [for] equality between the sexes.”
Fonda leaned in with a message for Congress: “Come on! It’s time! It’s been 100 years!” Then added, “It’s been ratified, so get it published already!”
The ERA is fundamental to the culture. We’re one of the few industrialized countries that does not have some kind of law… [for] equality between the sexes.
Lily Tomlin
“[The ERA] means everything. I’ve been a tremendously independent person all my life, even when I was little. Nobody messed with me. That’s the way it should be for all women. Women should not ever have to feel obligated to do something they don’t want to do to get a job or keep a job,” said actor Donna Mills.
The evening featured a screening of Still Working 9 to 5, a documentary directed by Camille Hardman and Gary Lane, which has interviews with the film’s original celebrities, including the late Dabney Coleman as well as Broadway leads Allison Janney and Rita Moreno, to examine how decades later women’s rights still have far to go—and to advocate for publishing the already-ratified ERA in the U.S. Constitution.
[The ERA] means everything… Women should not ever have to feel obligated to do something they don’t want to do to get a job or keep a job.
Donna Mills
Other activists, social justice fighters and stars had passionate appeals for Congress to vote to finally publish the ERA in the Constitution, including the recommendation to go to Sign4ERA to add your name to the national petition.
The inimitable Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) stood tall to advise Ms. readers: “The Republicans, they work together very closely. They are told what to do, they follow the orders. … That’s why we’ve got to register and vote. We’ve got to take back the House, we’ve got to hold onto the Senate, and keep Biden in the White House… [Then] we’ll get it, I promise you.”
“We’ve gotta get off our asses. It’s not even ‘we’! We’ve been doing this work: Not just 9 to 5, 24/7 to get this freaking thing published!” said actor Frances Fisher.
Don’t act like you care about your wives, or your moms, or your daughters, or your nieces, or your friends’ daughters if you don’t pass [the ERA].
Kathy Griffin
Actor and activist Alyssa Milano noted that after her tweet went viral, helping propel Tarana Burke’s #MeToo movement into the zeitgeist, the next step was to legislate it into law, but as she confided, “I didn’t even know that women were not enshrined in the Constitution and that there were no provisions for gender equality!” Since then she has been “all in” for the ERA.
We’re fighting the same battles that we fight for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor: For people to have their civil rights respected, for people to have an equal opportunity at the American promise of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Ben Crump
Lisa Ann Walter, one of the stars of Abbott Elementary, told Ms. that the failure to pass the ERA decades ago, “meant disappointment, discouragement: I could not believe that my fellow countrymen would vote against something as simple as women being equal under the Constitution. It made no sense to me then, it makes no sense to me now.”
She had an urgent imperative for young voters: “If the young women of today don’t see the way the wind is blowing and the rights that they are currently losing under this Supreme Court, and they don’t get their shit together and vote the way they need to? We are all in big fat trouble. Vote, young women, vote!”
“Don’t act like you care about your wives, or your moms, or your daughters, or your nieces, or your friends’ daughters if you don’t pass [the ERA],” said actor and comedian Kathy Griffin.
Ben Crump, civil rights lawyer and legal representative for the family of George Floyd, lit up like a supernova as he delivered what felt like a revival proclamation that got the crowd on its feet. He’s a passionate board member of the ERA Coalition “to help make sure … our daughters, our wives, our mothers, everybody has a seat at the table. That’s [what] the ERA Coalition is fighting for.
“We’re fighting the same battles that we fight for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor: for people to have their civil rights respected, for people to have an equal opportunity at the American promise of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that is a fight worth fighting for and that’s why we have to pass the Equal Rights Amendment now!”
Take Action for the ERA
- Sign the ERA petition and share.
- Make sure you’re registered to vote and vote in the 2024 elections.
- Join the effort to get out the vote in your community. Check out ERACoalition.org for more information.
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