[Zerbie]

When my mom was first married she was a passionate activist for the ERA. Firey. She kept her ERA YES promo materials for years, I ended up owning them for a while as a very small child (after the ERA failed).

It was after ERA failed that my mom dropped out of feminism, and ultimately went conservative, but without any conviction.

What I never understood was why my mother blamed homosexuals for the failure of the ERA. She told me that gays had blocked equal rights for women, and she stood by this for years. She taught that to me from my earliest childhood, 'never be friends with gay men, they stopped the ERA because they hate you." At least now I know where she got that seed planted, even if her logic was a bit skewed!