As one of his last acts before leaving office, President Joe Biden said on Friday he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has been officially ratified and therefore is now part of the U.S. Constitution.

The struggle over the Equal Rights Amendment started more than a century ago when suffragist Alice Paul first proposed it shortly after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

The remarks were largely a symbolic gesture of support for a century-long campaign to enshrine gender equality in the Constitution. But advocates said they could add heft to a future legal fight.