RBG Imparted This To Plaintiff In Gender Equality Case: 'It's All Right To Be A Hero'

Sharron Frontiero was a young lieutenant in the Air Force when she first filed a lawsuit against the federal government on the basis of sex. It later came to the attention of a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who signed onto the case in 1972, setting up her first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frontiero, now Sharron Cohen, was the plaintiff in Frontiero v. Richardson, in which she sought a dependent's allowance for her husband. That same benefit is owed to wives of male members of the military according to federal law.

"I was married, and I expected a housing allowance and I wasn't eligible for it — because I was a woman," Sharron, 73, said in a recent StoryCorps interview recorded with her son Nathan, 41.