The Equal Protection clause is the last part of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the USA. The full amendment reads:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
All these rulings have actually had the effect of reinforcing the legal protections of very different minority groups (Hispanics, women, LGBTs). The SCOTUS has ruled that these protections apply both a the federal and the state level since according to the Constitution all states must ensure equal protection of the laws for all citizens born or naturalized in the United States. The court clearly considers these issues as relevant to everyday citizens.
Therefore, the correct answer is D. It has interpreted equal protection as applying to different groups of people.
