For the better part of the past decade, Aimee Stephens was fighting two battles: one against kidney disease, and another that went to the Supreme Court, a potential landmark case over her 2013 firing after coming out to her boss as transgender.

But on Tuesday, after having recently entered hospice care following years of kidney failure, Stephens lost one battle without living to see the end of the other.

She died at her home in Michigan at 59 — likely just days or weeks away from a Supreme Court ruling in her case.

Stephens’s case is the first major transgender civil rights matter that the high court has heard, with potentially sweeping implications for transgender people nationwide seeking protections from being fired because of their gender identity. That Stephens will not be alive to witness its outcome has devastated her family, legal team and the countless people in the LGBT community she inspired, the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Stephens, said in a statement.

Her wife, Donna Stephens, thanked everyone on Tuesday “from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness, generosity, and keeping my best friend and soulmate in your thoughts and prayers.” Stephens also leaves behind a daughter, Elizabeth.

“Aimee is an inspiration. She has given so many hope for the future of equality for LGBTQ people in our country, and she has rewritten history,” Donna said in a statement provided by the ACLU. “The outpouring of love and support is our strength and inspiration now.” Read more via Washington Post

Thank You, Aimee

Aimee Stephens, a trailblazer in trans rights, passed away in her home this week at the age of 59.

Together, we sued for discrimination after Aimee was fired from her job for being transgender. When Aimee decided to fight back, she just wanted it to be acknowledged that what happened to her was wrong. She ended up making history by bringing the Supreme Court its first trans civil rights case. Aimee died before the Court issued a decision on her case, but the fight for trans rights continues in her honor. See more via ACLU

Like many trans folks, Aimee Stephens gave a huge piece of her life to a fight she probably knew would outlast her. She became the face of a legal battle, probably knowing it would be more about the folks who came after her. And that's beautiful but it also just hurts so much.
— Rebecca Green (@wordofgreen) May 12, 2020