--- title: Gay Marriage: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as Champion of Gay Rights description: "I think that as more and more people came out and said that “this is who I am,” the rest of us recognized that they are one of us" canonical: https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-26T16:58:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:19.312Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as a Champion of Gay Rights og:description: "I think that as more and more people came out and said that 'this is who I am,' the rest of us recognized that they are one of us" og:url: https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba29fd6f61bce5d/69885889e20a877655a8c0ab/466730748-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at an annual Women's History Month reception in Washington on March 18, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as a Champion of Gay Rights twitter:description: "I think that as more and more people came out and said that 'this is who I am,' the rest of us recognized that they are one of us" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba29fd6f61bce5d/69885889e20a877655a8c0ab/466730748-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as a Champion of Gay Rights > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: This is The History of the Rainbow Flag [Watch (HLS stream): This is The History of the Rainbow Flag](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bnTiT5cr.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-24. How the rainbow flag became an icon of LGBT rights_ by [Alicia Lu / Bustle](https://time.com/author/bustle/) ## Alicia Lu / Bustle Jun 26, 2015 4:58 PM UTC  Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at an annual Women's History Month reception in Washington on March 18, 2015. Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at an annual Women's History Month reception in Washington on March 18, 2015.Allison Shelley—Getty Images by [Alicia Lu / Bustle](https://time.com/author/bustle/) ## Alicia Lu / Bustle Jun 26, 2015 4:58 PM UTC It’s official: gay marriage is now a Constitutional right everywhere in America, thanks to the [Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the ](http://www.bustle.com/articles/89093-whats-next-for-gay-rights-after-supreme-court-verdict-the-next-frontier-is-enda)[_Obergefell v. Hodges_](http://www.bustle.com/articles/89093-whats-next-for-gay-rights-after-supreme-court-verdict-the-next-frontier-is-enda)[ case](http://www.bustle.com/articles/89093-whats-next-for-gay-rights-after-supreme-court-verdict-the-next-frontier-is-enda) on Friday. While there was a majority decision of 5-4, there is one justice who has stood out above the rest as a steadfast and fierce supporter of marriage equality, and you might know her as the Notorious RBG. [Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s support of gay marriage](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/28/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-arguments-supreme-court) has been crucial, from her personal opinion of the American public’s shifting attitude to April’s oral arguments and, ultimately, [the historical decision](http://www.bustle.com/articles/87251-6-amazing-places-to-celebrate-the-same-sex-marriage-decision-in-new-york-city) that says anyone in any state can marry the person they love. Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan joined Ginsburg in agreeing that gay couples should be free to marry in all 50 states. Even before the decisive oral arguments on April 28, Ginsburg was already very vocal about [her take on gay marriage](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-12/ginsburg-says-u-s-ready-to-accept-ruling-approving-gay-marriage-i61z6gq2): America’s ready. In February, Ginsburg sat down with Bloomberg Business to discuss the high court’s impending gay marriage case. She told Bloomberg’s Greg Stohr and Matthew Winkler that it “would not take a large adjustment” for the American people to accept the Supreme Court’s decision to make gay marriage a Constitutional right. Then, during the hearing in April, Ginsburg used her famous sharp wit to [shut down the opposing side’s arguments](http://www.bustle.com/articles/79730-ruth-bader-ginsburg-shuts-down-gay-marriage-opponents-with-these-3-perfect-rebuttals) against gay marriage. For example, when tradition was brought up as an argument to maintain the marriage status quo, Ginsburg countered with the (extremely) antiquated Head and Master Law, which defined marriage as between a dominant male and a subordinate female. Clearly, that was a marriage tradition that desperately needed to be challenged, just like opponents’ idea of marriage as only between a man and a woman. And when John Bursch, the lawyer representing the states who want to keep their gay marriage bans, argued that marriage was all about procreating, Ginsburg brought up this very astute point: But perhaps the biggest nod she’s made was when she officiated a gay wedding earlier this month, which is already a clear-cut sign of her advocacy, and she dropped a sly hint to the SCOTUS’s decision. According to to _New York Times_ writer Maureen Dowd, who was in attendance at the wedding of Shakespeare Theatre Company artistic director Michael Kahn and New York architect Charles Mitchem, when pronouncing the two men married,[Ginsburg seemed to emphasize the word “constitution”](http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/05/20/ruth-bader-ginsburg-officiates-gay-wedding-drops-possible-hint-about-supreme-court-decision/) when she said “by the powers vested in me by theConstitution of the United States.” Though it’s nothing but mere speculation, it certainly wouldn’t be totally unlike the Notorious RBG to subtly wink at America in such a way. She didn’t earn her “notorious” title for nothing. ### See Ruth Bader Ginsburg Grow from Toddler to Supreme Court Justice  August 2, 1935 Childhood photograph of Ruth Bader taken when she was two years old. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  1948 Ruth Bader delivers a sermon as camp Rabbi at the age of 15, at Che-Na-Wah camp in Minerva, N.Y. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  December, 1953 Studio photograph of Ruth Bader, taken in Dec. 1953 when she was a Senior at Cornell University. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  Fall, 1954 Martin D. Ginsburg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg taken in the fall while Martin Ginsburg served in the Army, before being drafted, stationed at Artillery Village in Fort Sill, Okla. Martin Ginsburg was drafted into the Army in 1954. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  Summer 1958 Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg play with their three-year old daughter, Jane, in her bedroom at Martin's parents' home in Rockville Centre, N.Y Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  Fall 1980 Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg during her first term as a United States Circuit Judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  December, 1980 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her husband Martin Ginsburg, and their children James and Jane in a boat off the shore of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  1972 Ruth Bader Ginsburg with her husband Martin at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  Oct. 1, 1993 Informal portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg standing before the mantle in the Justices' Dining Room in Washington. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  August 10, 1993 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. From left to right stand President Bill Clinton, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martin Ginsburg, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  Official portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Steve Petteway—Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States _This_ [_article_](http://www.bustle.com/articles/87221-an-ode-to-ruth-bader-ginsburg-her-contribution-to-scotus-historical-gay-marriage-decision) _originally appeared on_ [_Bustle_](http://www.bustle.com) _More from Bustle:_ * [Why Supporting Same-Sex Marriage Is Good For You](http://www.bustle.com/articles/88196-6-ways-supporting-gay-marriage-is-good-for-you-your-health) * [4 Super-Snarky Moments In Scalia’s Dissent](http://www.bustle.com/articles/93200-4-super-snarky-moments-in-antonin-scalias-dissent-in-which-he-makes-very-clear-that-he-is) * [These Brands Are Spreading The #LoveWins Message](http://www.bustle.com/articles/93208-brands-reacting-to-same-sex-marriage-ruling-on-twitter-are-spreading-the-lovewins-message-beautifully) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/"},"headline":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as a Champion of Gay Rights","datePublished":"2015-06-26T16:58:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:19.312Z","description":"\"I think that as more and more people came out and said that 'this is who I am,' the rest of us recognized that they are one of us\"","url":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/","keywords":["society","Supreme Court","women","Ruth Bader Ginsburg","same sex marriage","Equality"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba29fd6f61bce5d/69885889e20a877655a8c0ab/466730748-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alicia Lu / Bustle"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba29fd6f61bce5d/69885889e20a877655a8c0ab/466730748-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at an annual Women's History Month reception in Washington on March 18, 2015.","caption":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at an annual Women's History Month reception in Washington on March 18, 2015.","creditText":"Allison Shelley—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/society/","name":"society"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/","name":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg's History as a Champion of Gay Rights"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This is The History of the Rainbow Flag","description":"How the rainbow flag became an icon of LGBT rights","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bnTiT5cr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-24T22:02:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bnTiT5cr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3937882/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage-ruling/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```