11. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Advancing Gender Equality
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, was a pivotal figure in advancing gender equality. As a lawyer, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU in 1972, strategically challenging laws that discriminated based on sex. Her meticulous, case-by-case approach led to significant legal victories, including the landmark Reed v. Reed decision in 1971, which applied the Equal Protection Clause to gender discrimination for the first time (history.com). Ginsburg’s legacy in dismantling sex-based discrimination laws parallels Thurgood Marshall’s impact on civil rights, as both utilized the legal system to challenge and overturn systemic inequalities.
