Perhaps the President forgot the facts of the Supreme Court’s decision in Frontiero v. Richardson.

The Air Force had denied certain medical and dental benefits to the spouse of Lieutenant Sharron Frontiero.  Her husband sued and won.

“Classifications based upon sex, like classifications based upon race, alienage, or national origin,” wrote Justice Brennan, “are inherently suspect, and must therefore be subjected to strict judicial scrutiny.”

The American Civil Liberties Union attorney arguing on behalf of Joseph Frontiero was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Lilly Ledbetter law also protects both men and women – from unequal pay and other discriminatory treatment in the workplace.  President Obama was not alone Tuesday night when he referred only to women as the beneficiaries of the law.   Many elected officials describe our civil rights laws as protecting only people of a certain gender or race.

(Since Governor Romney never mentioned the Ledbetter statute in his response, one can only guess how it was summarized in his debate binders.)

I think I know why I remember the facts in Frontiero.  I read it in my law school class on Sex Discrimination and the Law.  My professor was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.