WATCH: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Knows We're Ready for Marriage Equality

The Supreme Court justice made her most forthcoming remarks to date about the future of marriage equality in the U.S.

Sunnivie Brydum

Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.

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Sunnivie Brydum

February 12 2015 1:53 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg added fuel to the fires of speculation that a ruling establishing marriage equality in all 50 states is all but guaranteed in an interview with Bloomberg Business published Thursday.

Asked if she believes there are parts of the country that wouldn't accept a Supreme Court ruling that declared the right to marry for same-sex couples nationwide, the 81-year-old justice said she thinks "it's doubtful that it wouldn't be accepted."

"The change in people's attitudes on that issue has been enormous," Ginsburg continued. "In recent years, people have said, 'This is the way I am.' And others looked around, and we discovered it's our next-door neighbor -- we're very fond of them. Or it's our child's best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out and said that 'this is who I am,' the rest of us recognized that they are one of us."

Although she's prohibited from commenting directly on cases slated to come before the court, Ginsburg's prior comments about the trajectory of marriage equality have led supporters to be similarly optimistic.

In October, Ginsburg said she saw no "crying need" for the high court take up the issue immediately, because at that point, every federal appellate court was in agreement that state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. But as Ginsburg anticipated a month earlier, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last November became the first appellate court to uphold marriage bans, in a consolidated case out of Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky. That decision has now been appealed to Ginsburg's court -- and will be heard by the nine justices of the Supreme Court this spring, with a decision anticipated by the end of June.