Many are calling attorney Roberta Kaplan a gay hero after she represented Edith Windsor in the trial that led the Supreme Court to rule the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Like her client, Kaplan is a lesbian. She is also deeply religious and a faithful member of a congregation within the Conservative Judaism movement. During an interview with HuffPost Live, Kaplan talked with host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin about reconciling her faith with her sexuality and the role religion played in Windsor's trial.
"The struggles that I had, like the struggles that anyone has, are in part based on, can you fully be part of the society that you want to be a part of? Can you have the family that you want to have? Can you be part of your religious community the way you want to be?" Kaplan said.
Kaplan is certainly part of her religious community. She belongs to "an incredibly wonderful congregation" that played an enormous role in celebrating Kaplan's historic victory.
"After we won, we had a special shabbat service out at the synagogue, and the entire synagogue came on a Saturday morning and we all danced around with the Torah to celebrate the victory," she said. "It was one of the best moments of my life."
In Windor's trial, a religious point of view was essential to victory, Kaplan said. Religion manifested itself largely in the amicus briefs, which are testimony from outside parties meant to show how the trial's decision affects people beyond the litigants involved. The opposition's outside voices were mostly made up of religious groups, and Kaplan wanted to show the court that religion had a place on her side as well.
"It was very important to us strategically in this case to present the argument that it's not just a religious issue on one side," she said. "We worked very hard on getting a brief of very mainstream religious groups -- not just the gay Episcopal group or the gay Jewish group."
See the full interview with Roberta Kaplan at HuffPost Live HERE:
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