Sharron Frontiero

Sharron Frontiero was a woman who challenged the U.S. military’s gender discrimination policies in the 1970s. She served as a lieutenant in the Air Force and found that her husband could not receive the same benefits that a female service member's wife would receive. Frontiero argued that this was unfair and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equality under the law. Her landmark case, Frontiero v. Richardson (1973), reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor, emphasizing that gender-based discrimination is unconstitutional. This case helped advance women’s rights and equality in the military.