Virginia lawmakers voted Wednesday to become the 38th U.S. state to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal legal protections regardless of gender. The constitutional amendment was approved by Congress in 1972 and was ratified by 35 states over the next decade — three states short of the required total needed by a 1982 deadline. President Trump’s Justice Department has argued that Virginia’s adoption of the ERA came too late, and the fate of the amendment appears likely to remain in doubt for years while courts take up the issue.