Editor, Gazette-Journal:

An editorial in the Jan. 17 edition of the Gazette-Journal titled “24 Words” endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment recently passed the Virginia Senate 26-14 and was sent to the Virginia House of Delegates for ratification.

Thirty-eight states are required to ratify the amendment before it becomes a part of our Constitution. Even though the deadline has passed for ratification, it is possible that Congress would accept the ratification and Virginia would be the final state that puts it over the top.

Amendments like the ERA are very powerful; much more than the average citizen understands. They require extreme scrutiny because of that. I could not imagine that it made it out of the Senate committee much less be approved by the Senate body. Please let me explain why I say that. What I’m going to say may seem so extreme you will find it hard to believe, but it is true.

The ERA equates sexually related rights w...