Equal Rights Amendment
First proposed in 1932 by suffragist Alice Park, the Equal Rights Amendment overcame its first major legislative hurdle in 1972, when Congress passed the measure thanks, in large part, to Ted Kennedy's passionate support. But the 52-word amendment, which sought to afford gender discrimination the same legal weight as racial discrimination, never became part of the Constitution; in 1982, it fell just three states short of ratification. Since then, Kennedy, who also championed Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1972, has re-introduced the failed ERA amendment in every session of Congress and co-sponsored a renamed version, the Women's Equality Amendment, in 2007. Kennedy also had a pivotal role in passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which expands the statue of limitations on equal-pay lawsuits.