Appointed during the Obama administration, Justice Sonia Sotomayor is one of the more liberal votes on the court.
Ruling in favor of the legalization of gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hayes, Sotomayor has become known for her pragmatic focus and tendency to consider the real-world effects of the cases presented to the Supreme Court. She is not an originalist like the conservative judges on the court and made her views clear during the arguments. During the Aimee Stephens case, Sotomayor often spoke up to point out how in her logic, discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender expression could also be considered discrimination based on sex.
"I think Justice Breyer was right that Title VII, the Civil Rights Act, all of our acts were born from the desire to ensure that we treated people equally and not on the basis of invidious reasons," Sotomayor said. "At what point does a court say, Congress spoke about this, the original Congress who wrote this statute told us what they meant. They used clear words. And regardless of what others may have thought over time, it's very clear that what's happening fits those words. At what point do we say we have to step in?"
