Georgia Fuller is a women's rights activist who was heavily involved in the political struggle for the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...

in the 1980s. She was a member of the Congressional Union, a feminist group in the 1980s, and was co-founder of the Arlington, Virginia chapter of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(NOW).

Involvement with National Organization for Women

Fuller was heavily involved with the Virginia chapter of NOW and founded the Arlington chapter in 1975. As part of her work with NOW, she was an advocate for LGBT rights, the Equal Rights Amendment and reproductive rights. At the 1981 conference, Fuller participated in a group called Congressional Union that called for more direct action to put pressure on the White House to support the ERA. The Congressional Union was active in the early 1980s and took its name from the original Congressional Union for Women's Suffrage founded by

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragette, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the Unit ...

, the original author of the ERA. During the 1981, conference, Fuller wore chains to emphasize the militant tactics that were coming to publicly support the ERA. Fuller continued to be involved with NOW throughout the 1980s. During that decade, she was also politically active with LGBTQ+ issues as she helped organize a conference to discuss homophobia in the church.

NOW's Task Force on Women and Religion

Fuller was active with a variety of faith based social justice groups and served as co-coordinator of the National Organization for Women's Task Force on Women and Religion. When

Sonia Johnson Sonia Ann Johnson, (''née'' Harris; born February 27, 1936) is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of the Chur ...

was excommunicated from the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

for supporting the ERA, Fuller organized a prayer vigil on her behalf. Another notable feminist who was involved with this group was Elizabeth Farians, one of the co-founders of NOW.

Militant actions for the ERA

Fuller was part of an organization called

A Group of Women A Group of Women was an American feminist organization in the 1980s that committed a series of actions in support of the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Sonia Johnson was a notable member of this organization that advocated for the us ...

who undertook militant action on behalf of the ERA in the early 1980s.

also belonged to this organization and took part in a variety of political campaigns alongside Fuller. These non-violent direct action tactics involved smearing red paint that looked like blood on the front of the National Archives. She was also part of a group of twenty women who went on a hunger strike to increase awareness of this amendment.

Chained to the White House fence

On August 26, 1982, Women's Equality Day, Fuller and a group of women chained themselves to the White House fence to protest inaction over the ERA.

Charlotte Bunch Charlotte Anne Bunch (born October 13, 1944) is an American feminist author and organizer in women's rights and human rights movements. Bunch is currently the founding director and senior scholar at the Center for Women's Global Leadership at ...

and Fuller gave speeches in Lafayette Park as supporters burned candles. The words of President Ronald Reagan were burned in bathtubs and the press reported the women as "latter day suffragettes." Fuller encouraged the comparison to the suffragists of the 1910s saying, "As the suffragette burned the words of Wilson, we in the same spirit burn the words of Reagan. And as our fore-mothers set watch-fires of freedom at the same site, we as American women ignite the watch-fires of equality."

Climbing the White House fence

On Susan B. Anthony's birthday, February 15, 1982, Fuller and 9 other women climbed over the White House fence to raise awareness for the need of an ERA. This was an organized action undertaken by the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Congressional Union

Personal life

Fuller, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, was born in 1945 and has one son. As of 2020, Fuller continued to give public presentations sharing her personal history about working for the ERA. In her later years, Fuller has been active with the Silver Panthers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Georgia Living people 1945 births Equal Rights Amendment activists Women's rights activists Feminists Radical feminists National Organization for Women people