Tuesday is Equal Pay Day, a day to highlight the issues related to the gender wage gap.
April 4, symbolizes how much longer it takes for a woman to make the same income as a man from the year before.
“Like it is 2017, why do we still have issues with anything or anyone considered equal,” Luxe Apothetique manager Bianca Roper said.
For Roper, hard work is just that--hard--but earning the deserved amount for a pay check shouldn't be.
In 2015, women working full time, like Roper, were paid 80 percent of what men were paid.
But when it comes to minorities, the percentage is even lower, with Hispanic and Black women bottoming out.
"At this rate, it would take 70 years, and so we need to make sure that we have legislators aware that we have women that are not being paid equally, it’s not a myth, it's real,” National Director of American Association of University Women Traci Jensen said.
Those from AAUW demand action from state leaders. The group says, last year 36 states introduced equal pay legislation with six successfully passing theirs into law.
This legislative session they have 40 equal pay bills filed or pre-filed. And Tuesday, Jenson and several others lobbied to discuss the gravity of wage issues and break down why change is vital.
"To say, hey, we matter! Hey, we're here, we are 26 women dressed in red saying, 'hey, look at us,'” AAUW Public Policy Co-chair member Shenee Simon said. “I feel very encouraged for what the AAUW is doing.”
The mother of three says it's a battle she isn't willing to back down on.
"I hope and pray that when my daughter is of age to work that she will be earning more than minimum wage. I hope she doesn't have to fight for her salary, to say hey, I'm worth it so I need that monetary compensation,” she said.
And that's what HB 290 is aimed to do, to prohibit sex discrimination in compensation.
Roger says being informed is a powerful thing.
"To investigate, to ask questions, whether that's in politics or just what's going on in the city," she said.
The group hopes by spotlighting the issue it will help create a path for change.
For more information on AAUW's work, click here.