Legal recognition of queer lives, same-sex marriage equality, the decriminalization of homosexuality, and job protections: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s impact on the lives of LGBTQ+ Americans is incalculable, as is the potential impact of her death on Friday.
Ginsburg fundamentally expanded access to the American promise of liberty and equality for all — a promise that has never been fully achieved — and her legacy is particularly meaningful for the countless LGBTQ+ Americans whose lives she touched. In every Supreme Court case that directly touched on queer issues, Ginsburg joined the majority in ruling in favor of equality.
It wasn’t long after her 1993 appointment that she had her first opportunity to weigh in on issues of fundamental important to queer people, with Romer v. Evans in 1996. That case stemmed from a dispute in Colorado, where voters had passed a state constitutional amendment that prohibited the recognition of queer people as a protected class.