Artists4ERA
Inspiring equality for everyone!
“Will women now be walking around topless?”
- The legal status of a topless citizen in a public space, regardless of gender, depends upon a community’s standards for public nudity.
- Some localities (Denver, NYC, Miami) already allow all citizens to be topless in public.
- Most localities in America restrict toplessness for women.
- A community’s public decency statutes are not likely to be impacted by the 28th Amendment (Equal Rights) because:
- Constitutional amendments have limits, and rights do not exist in a vacuum.
- Public decency laws have been upheld by the Supreme Court even when challenged as violating the Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. A well known example is that it’s not legal to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater (if there is no fire) despite the right to free speech.
- When the 28th Amendment is enforceable, the government can still pass sex specific legislation if it has a compelling government purpose and the government action is narrowly tailored to achieve that purpose.
- Further, public nudity prohibitions have not been held to this exacting standard. For example, the Supreme Court has already recognized nude dancing as expression protected under the First Amendment while simultaneously upholding enforcement of public decency statutes because the public decency statutes are necessary to serve a substantial government interest.
- In other words, the Court allows state governments to restrict fundamental First Amendment rights in certain circumstances. These cases provide a basis for applying a more lenient standard to test and uphold public nudity statutes challenged on equal rights grounds.
ADDITIONAL FAQs
What Changes
“What will the 28th Amendment (Equal Rights) really do?”
About Us
“Who is VoteEqualityUS and what’s your plan?”
Abortion
“Doesn’t this open the door for abortion rights?”
Bathrooms
“Will we all have to use the same bathrooms?”
Bipartisan
“Do most Americans support Equal Rights in our Constitution?”
Black Lives Matter
“What’s your position on Black Lives Matter?”
Business Case
“How does gender equality impact businesses?”
Contracts
“Won’t women contractors lose enhanced status for contract bids?”
Convention
“Can’t we just do this during the constitutional convention?”
COVID-19
“What kind of impact is COVID-19 having on gender equality?”
Deadline
“Didn't the ratification deadline already pass?”
Discrimination
“What government gender discrimination is happening now?”
Draft
“Does constitutional equality mean women will be drafted?”
Equal Pay
“Will this help women get paid more equally?”
Family Law
“How will the Equal Rights Amendment impact family law?”
Fear of Unknown
“How can we do this when we don't know what will happen?”
Gender Violence
“How can constitutional gender equality help with gender violence?”
Ginsburg
“Didn’t RBG say something about starting over?”
History
“What is the history of the 28th Amendment (Equal Rights)?”
Insurance
“What about insurance? Someone said my rates will go up.”
International
“How do we compare to other countries?”
Intersectionality
“Is the 28th Amendment (Equal Rights) for all of us?”
Military
“How will the Equal Rights Amendment impact our military?”
Pregnancy
“Will this help with pregnancy discrimination?”
Rescissions
“Didn’t a few states rescind their ratifications?”
Social Security
“Will my widow lose her social security benefits when I die?”
Sports
“Will my daughter lose her girls only soccer team?”
Tax Exempt Status
“Will my church lose its tax exempt status?”
Title VII and Title IX
“How is this different from Title VII and Title IX?”
Topless
“Will women now be walking around topless?”
Transgender
“Will this provide protections for transgender individuals?”
Virginia v Ferriero
“Isn’t there a court case about the 28th Amendment (Equal Rights)?”
