I want to pay tribute to the many courageous women who have suffered the injustice of discrimination and taken action to defend and promote the fundamental right to sex equality. I hope to honor the memory of Rebecca, Katheryn, and Leslie Gonzales, three beautiful girls from Colorado who lost their lives at the ages of ten, eight, and seven because our law failed to protect them from the deadly violence of their father, and failed again to deliver justice to their mother, Jessica Gonzales (now Lenahan), following this tragedy.
Special thanks to Catharine MacKinnon, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, whose brilliance has been a constant source of inspiration to me and countless others. They have guided me over the past twenty years in all my endeavors and have helped me tremendously with this book, for which I am deeply grateful. It is truly an honor to work with them and be part of a vision they have done so much to forge, and continue to advance, for the benefit of women across the country and around the world.
This book is based on extensive research done over the past year by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, with great thanks to the firm and to Maria Vullo, Liza Velazquez, Erin Smith Dennis, and the rest of the team who have served as pro bono counsel to the Coalition for the ERA.
Thanks also to Chai Feldblum, Roberta Francis, Kamala Lopez, and Eleanor Smeal for taking the time to read drafts of this book and share their comments and advice with me, and to Dina Bakst, Taina Bien-Aimé, Jane Connors, Elizabeth Evatt, Bettina Hager, Kyung-wha Kang, Jane Levikow, Leanne Littrell DiLorenzo, Laura Neuwirth, Navi Pillay, Diane Rosenfeld, Richard Rothman and Melissa Salten, Pamela Shifman, Linda Wharton, and Liz Young. Thanks to Lauren Turner and Elizabeth Hague for research assistance.
It is a privilege to have this book published by The New Press, a unique publishing company I have long admired. I want to particularly thank Diane Wachtell, as well as Jed Bickman, Julie Enszer, and Sarah Fan for guiding me through the process of writing a book for the first time.