Organizational Spotlight: Generation Ratify

As most people know, June is Pride Month, so I just want to start off by wishing everyone a happy Pride! Despite most people knowing about the LGBTQ+ community, sadly there is a lot of misinformation and ignorance when it comes to understanding what the community really is.

I spoke with National Deputy Community Engagement Director and LGBTQ+ Caucus Director, Harmonie Ramsden, from Generation Ratify where they focus their attention on equal rights. They helped inform me that Generation Ratify started in July 2019 in Virginia, where a handful of young people realized the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and their role in getting that amendment passed. Thankfully, the amendment was ratified in Virginia and now their main goal is to help minorities of all sorts across the nation gain equal rights, as well as fighting for the national ratification of the ERA.

For how young the organization is, they have expanded fast! They are a national movement that focuses on helping people who aren’t cisgender heterosexual men. They have supported LGBTQ+ lives and that community has benefited greatly from their actions. Their gender equality movement helped encourage more women and non-gender conforming people to enter the office and promote more diversity among the patriarchy. The organization, similar to NYYCI, is completely student-run and consists of people ages 14-25. There are many opportunities for young people to get involved in exciting and beneficial ways. They also love and look forward to interaction from inside and outside of the organization. If you’re an adolescent looking to get involved more, they have a sign-up system on their main website, generationratify.org, or on their link tree, linktr.ee/generationratify. When signing up, you can join a chapter or even start your own! If you don’t want to join, but you still want to be a part of the change and support the movements that Generation Ratify stands for, then you can support them in other ways! They have merch at redbubble.com/people/GenRatify/shop and there are always donations open at https://www.generationratify.org/donate! If money isn’t something you have or if there is any apprehension on your part, they hold a lot of events and are more than happy to see new faces. Plus, you can always check them out and hype them up on social media! They can be found at generationratify on Instagram and genratify on Twitter and TikTok.

There's a lot of ways that absolutely anyone could boost and promote the Equal Rights Amendment. It’s such a serious issue that many people sadly disregard due to the lack of education on these types of subjects, even though the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law has found that “there are approximately 9 million LGBT Americans.” As Harmonie said, “[The ERA is] something that a lot of people don't think about because it's kind of unknown to a lot of youth today, but it's such a crucial part of codifying gender equality in our nation.” I ask you to do something for your community, your neighbor, your loved ones.