The Equal Means Equal campaign, founded by actress Kamala Lopez (‘Star Trek: Voyager’, ‘This Is Us’, ‘Mayans MC’), works to raise public awareness of the need for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Equal Rights Amendment establishes equality under the law in the U.S. Constitution, regardless of sex. Surprisingly, women are currently not equal under federal law. To raise awareness for this disparity, Lopez directed the documentary ‘Equal Means Equal.’ The film utilizes historical precedents and contemporary case studies to show what women in the United States face today, and why it is important to complete the process of ratifying the ERA to give women and girls the legal foundation they need to live on an even playing field. In her interview with Jejune Magazine, Lopez goes over next steps for ratifying the amendment and what readers can do to support the cause. The Biden-Harris administration expressed their support for the cause on the campaign trail, but have since taken no steps in rescinding the memo issued under the previous administration or instructing the Archivist to publish the amendment. Time is of the essence. Read on to learn more.

Where are you based?
Los Angeles, California, USA

How did you get into acting?
I started acting as a child — first on stage, then in commercials and TV. My father was a Creative Director at an Ad Agency in Manhattan and then in Caracas, Venezuela. When I was fourteen my family moved back to New York City from Venezuela, and I started doing professional acting work in the United States. I was a regular character on Sesame Street when I was still a kid.

On top of your long list of acting credits, such as ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ and ‘This Is Us,’ – and more recently this year on “Hacks” and “Mayans MC” — you actively campaign for women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution. When did you first become involved in this campaign? What inspired your involvement?
I had completed my first feature film as a director, A Single Woman, about Jeannette Rankin, our first U.S. Congresswoman from Montana who was elected before women even had the right to vote.

In 2008, I was asked to show my film at the Smithsonian Institution as part of an exhibit featuring Rankin among others called “Women of Our Time.” When my husband and I entered the National Portrait Gallery, a woman in a suffragist costume was interacting with the guests. When I asked her who she was, she replied: “My name is Alice Paul, and I’m back to haunt you because you have done nothing to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and men and women still do not have equality under federal law!”

At that moment I realized that despite all the things I believed and had grown up believing, men and women are still not legally equal in the United States. It was a life-changing moment. I set out to educate, to inform, and to advocate for an end to this inequity.

You are the founder of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Education Project. What is the goal of this project? What is the ERA, and why is it so important?
The goal of Equal Means Equal (previously the ERA Education Project) is to raise public awareness of the need for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Equal Rights Amendment establishes equality under the law in the U.S. Constitution, regardless of sex.

Section 1 of the Amendment reads as follows:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex”.

The ERA is critical to addressing-and ending-the many inequities that affect women, from pay disparities to ending gender-based violence, including sexual assault and human trafficking, the ERA addresses what is actually negatively impacting women every day in the United States as a result of sex discrimination. With the ratification of the ERA, future generations of Americans can move towards that “more perfect union” that has, until now, held women and all Americans back from achieving their full potential.

You also directed the documentary film ‘Equal Means Equal’. Can you tell us a bit about this film?
Equal Means Equal was a labor of love that took me many years to research, write, shoot, edit and distribute. I am still holding screenings of it almost every week in some part of the country. It is a very in-depth examination of the facts around sex discrimination in the USA. It is shocking information to most people that there is legal inequality between the sexes in America. In fact, 96 percent of Americans believe that men and women have equality under the law, and correcting this common misconception is an important reason why I set out to make Equal Means Equal. I felt that it was dangerous to have an overwhelming majority of our population believing a lie to be the truth; ie, that women were already equal under our Constitution. The documentary draws upon historical precedents and contemporary case studies to provide an unflinching look at what women — particularly women in the United States — face today and why it is absolutely critical to complete the process of ratifying ERA and give women and girls the legal foundation they need to build full and complete lives on an even playing field.

Equal Means Equal addresses the following topics as they relate to and would be addressed by the ERA:
• Wage Discrimination
• Female Poverty
• Rape & Sexual Assault
• Domestic Violence
• Pregnancy Discrimination
• Reproductive Healthcare
• Foster Care & Child Sex Trafficking
• International Women’s Rights
• The Law

The lack of an Equal Rights Amendment, as it stands now, encourages all of the above mentioned social problems because the remedy for them is under – if ever – enforced and the penalties, should they ever be found guilty, are quite minor.

The documentary also examines the present laws in place and why they don’t suffice as well as the state of international women’s rights with a focus on the international women’s rights treaty known as CEDAW.

The week of January 27th you rallied at the White House to establish women as fully equal under US law. What is the significance of January 27th?
Two years ago, on January 27, 2020, Virginia became the last of the requisite 38 states needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The Amendment states that two years after the date of ratification, the ERA is in effect and enforceable. Unfortunately, neither the previous administration nor shockingly, the present administration have lifted the order Trump placed on the Archivist, blocking the ERA from being published. It is urgent that the public put immediate pressure on the current administration and the U.S. Archivist to publish ERA immediately.

It is unconscionable that the Attorneys General of the 38 states that ratified the ERA are not representing the women of their states by demanding the Federal government recognize women’s legal equality. Equal Means Equal (the non-profit I formed after releasing the film) has launched various actions including: a new ERA Sentinel Campaign outside the Department of Justice; vigils outside the churches and places of worship of the President and Senate leadership; letter writing campaigns to all Senators; community town halls with faith-based groups and many other ongoing tactics to bring awareness and provoke action on this critical issue.

In the 1980, the Equal Rights Amendment only needed three more states to be ratified. Today, how many states are needed? Where are we at?
Between 2017 and 2020, legislatures in three states-Nevada (March 2017), Illinois (May 2018), and Virginia (January 2020) - ratified the Amendment, bringing the number of legislatures that ratified the ERA to the required three-fourths of the states: 38.

We just had Women’s History Month 2022 and women are still not considered equal according to the Constitution. What are the next steps?
On January 6, 2020, then Attorney General William Barr was ordered by then-President Donald Trump to issue a memo directing the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, not to publish the Equal Rights Amendment. The memo was issued in anticipation of Virginia’s ratification of the ERA that took place later on January 27. Equal Means Equal immediately filed suit to protect the ERA and force the Archivist to do his ministerial and non-discretionary job of publication. Soon thereafter, the three Attorneys General in the ratifying states (NV,IL,VA) also filed suit against the Archivist with the same arguments.

When 46 million women put this new administration into power; an administration which openly and publicly campaigned on support for the ERA, we expected that the lawsuits would immediately be dropped and the OLC memo would be rescinded. Despite the stated support for ERA (that remains on both Biden and Harris’ websites), the Biden administration has not rescinded the previous Attorney General’s memo. It has also not directed the Archivist to publish — and David Ferriero, the Archivist, has stated that he will retire in mid-April, opening the door to a lengthy campaign to appoint a new Archivist during which the ERA will continue to be delayed. It is imperative that ERA be published before this happens.

We cannot permit the promise of equality and ERA to be used yet again to manipulate women to vote for particular political parties. The fact of the matter is that both parties have had the opportunity to enshrine women’s equality into law and have chosen to make excuses not to do it. They wish to continue to underpay and abuse women with impunity by withholding basic equality and equal protection of our laws from us. It is an immoral and criminal enterprise that nonetheless persists because women are undereducated and misinformed about their actual rights and legal status. Should the women of today become aware of this egregious situation, it would be practically impossible for the government to keep it in place.

The people have spoken and they want women to be equal under law. It is critical to ensure that the voice of the people is heard and that elected officials keep their campaign promises. Right now that is just not going on, in terms of women’s rights, and that is incredibly un-democratic.

What will the process be to get this bill ratified? Is Biden seemingly interested in helping?
On the campaign trail, both President Biden and Vice President Harris pledged their support for the Equal Rights Amendment. Since their inauguration, neither Biden nor Harris have taken the necessary steps to make good on their promise and ensure that men and women are finally recognized as equal under the U.S. Constitution. The administration can start by rescinding the memo issued under the previous administration and instruct the Archivist to publish the amendment. You can read more about what Biden said, the statements being put out by various government officials, and my interpretation of those here:
http://equalmeansequal.org/blog/mr-president-actions-speak-louder-words/

After the bill passes, what will change for women?
The Equal Rights Amendment will correct the 14th Amendment, which deliberately left women out of the “equal protection of our laws.” Women would now receive “strict scrutiny” in the courts, en par with race, religion and national origin. Harm done to women would be seen as much more serious than it ever has been. With increasing penalties and repercussions, the substantive effects of sex discrimination for women on the ground throughout our society would begin to improve dramatically. The ERA also mandates equal pay, which is a gamechanger.

How can readers support the ERA?
First off, organize in your local communities to fight for ERA! Educate your networks – host home screenings of Equal Means Equal or the thirty minute version, Legalize Equality, and let people know that we have a huge blind spot in our society and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to correct it right now! After the screenings, create local groups that continue to meet and organize; partner with groups like the League of Women Voters and Indivisible — connect with others who want to see change in your community! Urge people to contact their Senators, Congresspeople and local representatives and demand that ERA be published, adopted and enforced immediately as it is the law! Protest outside the White House, the DOJ, your State Capitol, your Senator’s office — EME will send you a sign you can print out and fliers to hand out. Join us at www.equalmeansequal.org and stay abreast of what is going on by subscribing to our mailing list and follow Equal Means Equal on social media. Write to us at info@equalmeansequal.com Learn more about the film, the stats, the laws at www.equalmeansequal.com and please fuel the fight for equal rights!

How are you staying positive during the current wave of the pandemic?
I stay creative, productive and on-purpose. It helps to have meaningful work that is important to you and that you care about.

Has the pandemic affected this campaign at all? How are you persevering?
Before the pandemic I was traveling constantly speaking all over the country and it was very exhausting. The pandemic, and Zoom technology in particular, has allowed me to be in several places every day — all over the world! I feel very fortunate to be alive at a time where our ability to communicate is so incredible. I do not mean to intimate that this has not been a remarkably difficult time – there is no doubt about that – but I believe that there have been a great many insights and lessons for humanity, should we choose to learn them.

What does your new normal look like?
Work work work – just like the old normal – except now I garden and meditate too hahahahaha

What is your motto in life?
Always give as much as you possibly can.
Always listen to what is in your heart and gut and follow that.
Never do anything that feels wrong to you, no matter who is telling you to do it, and what the apparent benefits would be.
Try to live in loving kindness towards the earth, animals and other people.
Love yourself and be kind to yourself.

To learn more and find ways to support the Equal Means Equal campaign, please follow the platforms below:
Facebook: @equalmeansequalmovie
Twitter: @equalmeansequal
Instagram: @equalmeansequal
Pinterest: @equalmeansequal
Tumblr: @equalmeansequalmovie
YouTube Channel: @equalmeansequal
Website: https://www.kamalalopez.com/

Kamala Lopez Sets Out to Ensure That Equal Truly Means Equal