Bill Text: VA HJR21 | 2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Women's Equality Day; designating as August 26, 2020, and each succeeding year thereafter.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-03 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ21ER) [HJR21 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR21-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, women in the United States have experienced discrimination in both the public and private sectors, often facing challenges, constraints, and disparities in legal rights that do not affect male citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have worked to ensure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally, regardless of sex; and
WHEREAS, 12 of the Commonwealth's most prominent women leaders—Anne Burras Laydon, Cockacoeske, Mary Draper Ingles, Martha Washington, Clementina Rind, Elizabeth Keckly, Sally L. Tompkins, Maggie L. Walker, Sarah G. Jones, Laura S. Copenhaver, Virginia E. Randolph, and Adèle Clark—were honored in 2019 with the dedication of the Virginia Women's Monument on Capitol Square; and
WHEREAS, over the course of Virginia's 400-year history, from the colonial period and the foundation of the United States to the modern era, countless other women throughout the Commonwealth have played a vital role in shaping the future of the nation and made significant contributions as leaders in their communities, careers, and families; and
WHEREAS, in 1973, the United States Congress designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited states and the federal government from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex, as Women's Equality Day; and
WHEREAS, Women's Equality Day provides an opportunity to recognize the achievements of Virginia women and raise awareness of the ongoing fight for equal rights for women in all aspects of American life; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly designate August 26, in 2020 and in each succeeding year, as Women's Equality Day in Virginia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women so that members of the organization may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter; and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this day on the General Assembly's website.
