Jim Obergefell ( ; born 1966
["Jim Obergefell." In ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2017. ''Gale In Context: Biography'' (accessed September 11, 2019). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000322825/BIC?u=athe67392&sid=BIC&xid=72c64b3b.]) is an American civil rights activist who was the lead plaintiff in the 2015
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case ''
Obergefell v. Hodges
''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...
'', which legalized
same-sex marriage throughout the United States.
Obergefell had sued the state of Ohio in 2013, due to that state's lack of legal recognition of Obergefell's marriage to his husband, John Arthur. Obergefell was the Democratic nominee for the 89th legislative district of the
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in ...
in the 2022 elections.
Early life
Obergefell graduated from
Sandusky High School
Sandusky High School (SHS) is a secondary school in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Sandusky City School District, and one of two high schools in the city of Sandusky; the other high school is St Mary Central Cat ...
in 1984 and went on to attend the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
, where he earned a degree in secondary education and German.
["Jim Obergefell." In ''Gale Biography Online Collection''. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2015. ''Gale In Context: Biography'' (accessed September 11, 2019). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650009726/BIC?u=athe67392&sid=BIC&xid=cd8a35a6.] He attended graduate school at
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...
.
Out of college, he was a high school German teacher.
In his mid-twenties, Obergefell
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
to his eldest sister.
At the time, his mother was dead, but the rest of his family was not too surprised by his announcement.
While his father was not always supportive, Obergefell found a strong relationship with his aunt Paulette.
Obergefell began to attend an Episcopal Church but later declared himself an atheist.
Court cases
In 2011, Obergefell's longtime partner John Arthur was diagnosed with
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...
.
In July 2013, Obergefell and a gravely ill Arthur were
legally married in Maryland. However, after meeting with
Al Gerhardstein
Alphonse A. Gerhardstein (born 1951) is a civil rights attorney in Ohio who has been litigating since 1976. While he is best known nationally as lead counsel for James Obergefell in the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decision Obergefell v. ...
, a civil rights attorney, they were told that due to
Ohio's same-sex marriage ban, Obergefell could not be listed as Arthur's surviving spouse on his death certificate.
They filed a lawsuit, and the Ohio case became known as ''
Obergefell v. Kasich''. A federal judge agreed to hear the case the following court day due to Arthur's illness. The judge ruled in Obergefell's favor, but the state of Ohio appealed to a higher court and won, resulting in Obergefell's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Arthur died in October 2013, and soon Obergefell devoted his time and became committed to legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide with the Supreme Court case ''
Obergefell v. Hodges
''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...
.''
The two questions that would drive Obergefell's appeal to court would be: 1) whether it was constitutional for states to discriminate between gay and straight couples in granting marriage licenses, and 2) whether the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
required every state to recognize legal marriages of same sex couples who were married in another state.
''Obergefell v. Hodges'' was decided on Friday, June 26, 2015, with five of the nine Supreme Court justices ruling in Obergefell's favor.
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
, who wrote the majority opinion for the case, stated in the court: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were.” After winning the case, Obergefell stated, "It affirms what millions across the country already know to be true in their hearts: our love is equal.
The four words etched onto the front of the Supreme Court 'equal justice under law' apply to us, too."
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
reached out to congratulate Obergefell and thanked him for "his leadership that has changed our country."
Media appearances
When Justice Kennedy retired in 2018, Obergefell was very vocal in the media on his opinions of the judge's decision to resign. Obergefell admitted to feeling "despondent" because he believed the loss of Justice Kennedy could have repercussions, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Obergefell believes Justice Kennedy's legacy was undermined by his decision to retire during a
Trump presidency
Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...
. Obergefell stated on the issue that "I wouldn't trust any Justice nominated by this president to respect and protect LGBTQ+ rights."
Obergefell also was in the press when he was invited by
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
to attend Obama's final
State of the Union address
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
. When asked about why he received the honor to sit in the box of the
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
, Obergefell said: "
We the People
The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...
. This core American belief is why the other marriage-equality plaintiffs and I, and so many others before us, stood up to fight for our rights."
Career
Prior to his experience in court, Obergefell was a consultant and realtor in Ohio.
He consulted along with his partner Arthur.
After the case won in the Supreme Court in 2015, Obergefell spent a year traveling around the globe to speak about the case and his own life.
Obergefell has made it clear he did not take his case to court for financial reasons. According to Obergefell, federal recognition of his marriage means he would only receive $255 in additional
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
benefits and potentially a small disability benefit when he retires.
Obergefell cofounded Equality Vines after the trial, the first cause-based wine label that supports organizations devoted to civil rights and equality for all. He works with Keppler Speakers as a speaker and an activist. He also co-authored the book ''Love Wins'' (2017) with
Debbie Cenziper
Debbie Cenziper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American investigative journalist and nonfiction author. she writes for ''ProPublica'' and is the director of the Medill Investigative Lab at Northwestern University. She spent more than a decade as a ...
. The book explores the lives of the lovers and lawyers who were essential to the victory of ''
Obergefell v. Hodges
''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...
''. Obergefell volunteers to
officiate
An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either th ...
weddings, having officiated at eight same-sex weddings and one opposite-sex wedding after winning his case.
In February 2016, soon after the court ruling, Obergefell moved to Washington, D.C., to continue pursuing his political endeavors.
After three years of activism in Washington, Obergefell decided, in 2019, to move back to Ohio to reclaim his roots, return to his role as an uncle to 17, and announce a new act.
When asked about his favorite memory from his time in D.C., Obergefell said, "To be in that courtroom and have it finally sink in as Justice Kennedy
eadthe decision that we won, and that John could finally rest in peace. And that people like us around the country could get married, it's hard to top that."
In a 2019 interview with Washington DC-based station
WUSA (TV)
WUSA (channel 9) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of Tegna Inc. (based in the nearby Virginia suburb of McLean). WUSA's studios and transmitter are located at Broadcast House on ...
, Obergefell said he was looking forward to working on advancing LGBT and minority rights on a state level, starting with his home state of Ohio, since additional federal progress didn't seem attainable at the time.
In January of 2022, Jim Obergefell ran for the
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in ...
for Ohio's 89th legislative district covering Erie, Huron, and Ottawa counties. In the August 2022 Democratic primaries, Obergefell ran unopposed and won. He was defeated by Republican incumbent
D. J. Swearingen, who won re-election.
Personal life
In the early 1990s, at Uncle Woody's, a bar near the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
, Obergefell met John Arthur, the man he would eventually marry.
They began dating, moved in together, and worked in
IT consulting
In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...
and client relations management at several companies. After years of being together, Arthur was diagnosed with
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...
.
Obergefell acted as Arthur's caretaker for the rest of their relationship. By 2013, Arthur became bed bound, and Obergefell and Arthur decided to get married.
Same-sex marriage was illegal in their home state of Ohio, so in order to get married, they would have to go to another state.
["Same-Sex Marriage Supreme Court Decision, June 26, 2015." In ''Historic U.S. Events''. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2016. ''Gale In Context: U.S. History'' (accessed September 11, 2019). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2359039968/UHIC?u=athe67392&sid=UHIC&xid=397a5ea8.] Close friends and family of the couple pooled together to rent a medically equipped plane for the couple to travel for their wedding.
["Jim Obergefell." In ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2017. ''Gale In Context: Biography'' (accessed September 11, 2019). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000322825/BIC?u=athe67392&sid=BIC&xid=72c64b3b.] On July 11, 2013, the couple got an ambulance to escort Arthur to a private plane that flew Arthur, Obergefell, a nurse, and Arthur's aunt, who performed the ceremony, to
Baltimore/Washington International Airport
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...
in
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...
, where the marriage ceremony was performed while the plane sat on the tarmac. After 22 years of being together, Arthur died on October 22, 2013.
Recognition
In 2016, the
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the Center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure fr ...
in Cincinnati honored Obergefell with the Everyday Freedom Hero award. The award is given to people whose actions reflect the ideals of the
underground railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
. The city council of Cincinnati made April 28, the day of the Oral Arguments, John Arthur Day as a tribute to the Supreme Court case from the two men who lived there together for two decades. The mayor of the city,
John Cranley
John Joseph Cranley (born February 28, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the Cincinnati City Council and a partner o ...
, referred to Obergefell as a "historic figure" for their city and the country.
In 2015, ''
Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' named Obergefell one of its 2015 Global Thinkers. In the same year,
''Out'' magazine also named Obergefell on its 2015 Out 100 list. Obergefell was also appointed to be a member of the National Advisory Board for the
GLBT Historical Society
The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...
and the Board of Advisors for the Mattachine Society of Washington DC.
Obergefell has also been honored by the ACLU of Southern California, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and the Santa Clara University School of Law.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obergefell, Jim
Living people
1966 births
21st-century American educators
21st-century American male writers
Activists from Ohio
American civil rights activists
Bowling Green State University alumni
Gay men
LGBT people from Ohio
LGBT rights activists from the United States
People from Sandusky, Ohio
University of Cincinnati alumni