Justice Anthony Kennedy

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has been the author of key gay rights opinions. He wrote the opinions in Romer v. Evans, holding that a Colorado constitutional amendment barring providing any special legal protection to gays and lesbians lacked a rational relationship to any legitimate governmental purpose, Lawrence v. Texas, holding that Texas' law against sodomy violated  substantive due process protection for consensual sexual conduct, and United States v. Windsor, holding that the federal Defense Against Marriage Act was unconstitutional. But opponents to same-sex marriage are now "seizing upon other opinions by Kennedy himself," the Associated Press reports: "It was Kennedy who last month defended the right of voters to decide sensitive issues, in a ruling that upheld Michigan's ban on taking race into account in college admissions. At least five states have invoked Kennedy's opinion in the Michigan case to argue that voters and elected officials, not judges, should choose whether same-sex couples can be married or have their marriages recognized within their borders."