STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Two free showings of the movie “Ratified” will be offered Saturday and Sunday at The Liberty Theater in Hailey.

The 85-minute documentary will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, and 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3. Admission is free, thanks to the sponsorship of Hailey resident Jennifer Wilson.

“Ratified” includes a brief history of the hundred-year effort to get the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution. It also focuses on the ultimately successful effort for Virginia to become the 38th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

The amendment still has not passed, even though most Americans believe the U.S. Constitution protects gender equality. Proponents say that the Equal Rights Amendment would create a legal precedent to protect women from gender-based discrimination in a country where they say that American women still experience second-class treatment when it comes to pay, healthcare and legal protection.

Arlaine Rockey, legal adviser to Equal Means Equal says the ERA was fully ratified by 38 states in 2020 but was blocked by the Trump Administration. A U.S. Supreme case interpreting Article V of the constitution made it legally effective in January 2022 before the Dobbs decision came down.