Bio
Ria Tabacco Mar () is the Director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, where she oversees the ACLU’s women’s rights litigation.
Previously, she was a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project, where she fought gender stereotypes, sex segregation, and attempts to use religion to discriminate in schools, at work, and in public places. Ria was part of the ACLU’s litigation team representing Aimee Stephens and Don Zarda, whose cases were decided as part of the recent Supreme Court ruling recognizing that federal employment law protections apply to LGBTQ people. She also led the ACLU’s team in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the case in which a same-sex couple was refused a wedding cake because they are gay.
Ria is a frequent commentator on gender justice issues, appearing on television programs including , , and PBS’s , and has authored opinion pieces for the , , and other outlets.
Ria has been recognized on The Root 100 annual list of the most influential African Americans ages 25 to 45 and as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Ria served as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and as a judicial law clerk to Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and to Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Ria graduated from New York University School of Law and Harvard College.
Featured work
Dec 4, 2020
The Biden Administration’s Women’s Rights To-Do List
Nov 12, 2020
Men Are Being Fired for Being Caregivers. Here’s Why that Hurts Women Too.
Sep 22, 2020
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Fight for Gender Equity was for All of Us
Jul 3, 2019
Thousands of Voices Are Telling the Supreme Court: Don’t Roll Back LGBTQ Rights
Jun 26, 2019
Raising our Voices for Equality at Stonewall and the Supreme Court
Feb 11, 2019
Fact-Checking Common Myths on Transition-Related Care for Trans People
Jan 16, 2019
Chili’s Denied Meagan Hunter a Promotion Because She Needed to ‘Dress More Gender Appropriate’
Aug 6, 2018
A Jury May Have Sentenced a Man to Death Because He Is Gay. It’s Time for a Federal Court to Hear His Bias Claim.
Jun 19, 2018
Federal Court in Philadelphia Joins Growing Chorus Defending Trans Students
Apr 3, 2018
The Legal Questions Raised by a Women-Only Workspace