Roberta “Robbie” Kaplan has made a career out of advocating for civil rights and equality, including her historic work representing lesbian Edie Windsor in United States v.
Windsor in which she convinced the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013, clearing the path for marriage equality in the United States.
Kaplan’s clients are a who’s who of queer causes, from the victims of 2017’s racist attacks in Charlottesville, Virginia, for whom she won a staggering $26 million judgment, to Zander Moricz, a Florida high schooler currently challenging the state’s now-infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law.Despite these and other gains, the legal and political situation has become increasingly dire.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, 2021 was the worst year for anti-LGBTQ state legislation since 2015, the year that marriage equality became legal nationwide.