Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be recognised as ‘icon for women and LGBT+ community’ with library named in her honour
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Getty/Shannon Finney)
A library in LA’s renowned West Hollywood gayborhood is to be named in honour of the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
West Hollywood City Council voted 3-2 at a meeting on 21 December to recommend naming a newly-built library after the late civil rights advocate, who is remembered for championing the cause of constitutional protection from discrimination, and her strong support for LGBT+ rights.
Councilwoman Sepi Shyne said in a statement: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon for women, our LGBT+ community, for workers and every progressive value that West Hollywood holds.
“Ginsburg fundamentally expanded access to the American promise of liberty and equality for all. Her legacy is felt by all of us, every single one of us sitting on this council.
“Even though she may not have lived in West Hollywood, her decisions have affected positively every person living in West Hollywood.”
A mural of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stands in Manhattan’s East Village in New York City. (Getty/Spencer Platt)
The two council members who voted against the proposal had sought a more transparent public process for choosing a dedicatee for the 32,000 square-foot library.
According to WeHoville the naming is not “a done deal” just yet, as the city’s public facilities commission and advisory boards must weigh in on the matter before the name is officially chosen.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is considered a hero of equal rights
Ginsburg, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in September, was instrumental in legal victories for women’s rights throughout her time as a lawyer, becoming a feminist icon for her work building a constitutional case against discrimination on the basis of sex.
Appointed to the US Supreme Court by Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg went on to become one of the court’s loudest advocates of LGBT+ rights.
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Getty/Sarah Silbiger)
She attracted fury from conservatives by performing several same-sex weddings herself ahead of the court’s 2015 ruling on the issue, while her frequent dissents from the court’s more conservative justices earned her the nickname ‘Notorious RBG’.
Ginsburg penned one such scathing dissent in 2018 as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a bakery that refused to serve a same-sex couple.
Donald Trump pushed through anti-LGBT+ justice to replace Ginsburg
The late justice was controversially replaced by Donald Trump just weeks before the US election, with the failed president opting to push ultra-conservative nominee Amy Coney Barrett to fill Ginsburg’s seat.
The move was decried by Democrats and civil rights campaigners, who noted that Barrett’s hardline views and anti-LGBT+ record stands in stand in stark contrast to Ginsburg.
