In honor of LGBTQ History Month, today we salute James Obergefell, the plaintiff in the landmark SCOTUS decision that legalized same-sex marriage. After coming out in his mid-20’s, James met and fell in love with his spouse, John Arthur, in 1992. The couple decided to marry after Arthur was diagnosed with fatal ALS. Since marriage was not legal in their home state of Ohio, friends and family raised funds to fly the couple in a medically-equipped airplane to Maryland, and the couple wed on the tarmac. John succumbed to the disease three months later. When Obergefell petitioned to have his name on the death certificate, the state of Ohio refused, citing they did not recognize the marriage- Obergefell sued and won. When the state successfully appealed, the case gained national recognition by lawyers and other couples in similar circumstances. Soon after, Obergefell v. Hodges emerged, and with the June 26, 2015 decision, history and the lives of several thousands of individuals and couples in the LGBTQ community were forever altered- for the better.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/politico50/2015/james-obergefell
https://lgbthistorymonth.com/james-obergefell?tab=biography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meet-jim-obergefell-man-supreme-court-sex-marriage/story?id=30621574