Soon, the U.S. Senate will likely vote to either confirm or reject Brett Kavanaugh as the next Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. If Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, his decisions will have an enormous impact on the lives of marginalized people.

I remember exactly where I was when I found out that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Obergefell that same sex marriage was legal. My mom and I had been combing the news channels for weeks to hear every angle of how the court would rule. That morning, my mom and I waited in anticipation in front of the television. When the Supreme Court’s decision flashed across the TV screen, we erupted with joy — hugging, crying, and eventually dancing around the room. For weeks, I felt lighter. I felt like I could be myself.

Through decisions such as Windsor, which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, and Obergefell, the Supreme Court expanded the opportunities afforded to millions of people in this country.

But if Sen. Susan Collins votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, these civil rights advances would be at risk. Throughout his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh refused to admit that Obergefell was correctly decided. He also expressed support for an interpretation of the Constitution where rights and liberties that are not specifically enumerated should only receive protection if they are “deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition.” This view, if adopted by the Court, would effectively erase Obergefell’s emphasis on using the insights of future generations to determine what liberty means.

Because our nation’s history and traditions have been rife with discrimination, Judge Kavanaugh’s view would make it difficult for historically marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+ people, to claim constitutional protection.

The Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage in 2015 certainly has benefited me and many others in the LGBTQ+ community. But it is still disturbing to me that people’s basic rights are left up to a vote. In a better world, the government would be shaped around the idea that people’s identities should be celebrated. In the world, as it is, people’s identities have been used to divide, benefiting some groups while oppressing others.

Among the prominent Founding Fathers, many owned slaves and, in doing so, they profited from a system based in violence and exploitation of black people. As American colonizers moved west, they murdered countless indigenous people, effectively committing genocide.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community have been shamed, beaten and killed for being who they are and loving who they love. There are many, many more examples of identity-based oppression in this country. Those are some of the original wounds from which people living in the United States are still attempting to heal.

There are still so many injustices going on today that reinforce identity-based discrimination. As happy as I am that same-sex marriage is legal in the United States, there are still many issues in the queer community that marriage equality does not fix. As a trans-person, I know that even within queer spaces there is often rampant transphobia. It is still a struggle for many to afford hormone replacement therapy and top/bottom surgery.

On top of it all, queer people are jailed at disproportionate rates; and housing and employment discrimination very much still exists.

With Judge Kavanaugh on the bench, the Supreme Court is far more likely to deny protections to LGBTQ+ people, among many other marginalized groups.

For me, and for countless others who would be put at risk by Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the presence of another conservative on the Supreme Court would equate to the loss of even the bare minimum of our rights.

That is why senators, and specifically swing votes such as Sen. Collins, should vote against confirmation of Kavanaugh. The rights of LGBTQ+ people are at stake.

Maddy Smith is lead organizer at Maine Student Action. She is a student at Bates College in Lewiston.

Maddy Smith