RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Two advocates for the Equal Rights Amendment were handcuffed and escorted away by police after staging a "die in" outside Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox's office.
The two women were taken away early Thursday morning by police after lying down outside Cox's door in a Capitol office building.
The women said there were holding a "Valentine's Day die in" because the Republican-controlled House of Delegates has killed legislation to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Capitol Police spokesman Joseph Macenka says the women were issued notices barring them from the Capitol office building for six months. No criminal charges were filed.
The proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution would outlaw discrimination based on gender.
ERA proponents had hoped Virginia would become the 38th state to approve the amendment.
