In 1972 Idaho became the first state in the nation to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. An amendment to the United States Constitution first proposed in 1972 to give equal rights to women and men. The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex; it seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. and men ever since.