June 28, 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a violent and raucous demonstration pushing back against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The rebellion is considered the start of the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States, but New Jersey case law tells us of how that community fought back earlier, albeit in less dramatic fashion, through lawyers before our state courts.

If those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it, lawyers and judges have the primary responsibility to ensure that not only is the past not forgotten, but society grows and evolves from history, especially in the context of civil rights.