On this day in ...... 1979 (30 years ago today), the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, known commonly as the Mormon Church, excommunicated Sonia Johnson (right) -- then a 43-year-old housewife from Sterling, Virginia, the mother of 4 children, and a 5th-generation Mormon -- on account of "her outspoken advocacy" of the Equal Rights Amendment. She would go on to run for the U.S. Presidency in 1984, winning 72,161 votes, or 0.08% of all ballots cast nationwide. Johnson later divorced, and according to a recent report runs a feminist lodge in New Mexico. As for the ERA, in July it was reintroduced into the House of Representatives. (photo credit)
(Prior December 5 posts are here and here.)
