Meryl Streep Wrote to Everyone in Congress, Got 5 Replies

Apparently Congress is not starstruck by Meryl Streep. Earlier this summer, the actress wrote a letter calling for support of the Equal Rights Amendment and mailed a copy—along with a book on the subject by the president of the ERA Coalition—to every member of Congress, Vanity Fair reports. But on Saturday, speaking at the Telluride Film Festival, Streep revealed she didn't get such a great reception. "I sent them each a book called Equal Means Equal by Jessica Neuwirth," Streep said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "It's about the revival of the attempt to get an ERA that would codify in law that you can't discriminate against women. I got five answers."

The letter asked lawmakers to "stand up for equality—for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself—by actively supporting the Equal Rights Amendment." Streep discussed it while on a panel after a screening of her new movie, Suffragette, in which she stars as activist Emmeline Pankhurst, who founded the Women’s Social and Political Union and helped women earn the right to vote in England at the turn of the 20th century. Asked why she thinks an Equal Rights Amendment is necessary today, Streep noted, "It needs to be set down in law. … For the rest of the world, it's important that this is set down in law." She added that she hopes Pope Francis will take up the cause: "He must address issues of inequality. The conversation changes when women are at the table." (More Meryl Streep stories.)