Jim Obergefell, whose Maryland same-sex marriage led to Supreme Court legalization, warns ruling "is not safe"

CBS News

2 days ago

Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to the lead plaintiff, Jim Obergefel,l a decade after the ruling.
He says marriage equality is under attack.
Supreme Court decision day
On June 26, 2015, people camped outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., waiting for the ruling that could change history.
And it did.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
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When my case number was read, I just jumped up in my seat a little bit and immediately started crying," Obergefell told CBS News moments after the decision.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
CBS News
A decade later, Obergefell spoke candidly about the impact.
"I think about the families that have formed, the people who have been able to say, 'I love you, I choose you. I will love, honor and protect you,'" he said. "And I think about the kids who have a future where, before, they might not have seen one for themselves. I think about a young woman in Tennessee who told me that if it weren't for Obergefell v. Hodges – if it weren't for that marriage equality decision – she would have committed suicide."
His comments come as the Trump administration recently announced the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will end its line dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth by July 17.
Married at BWI Airport
The road to equality began at BWI Marshall Airport more than two years earlier when Obergefell and his longtime partner, John Arthur, got married on a medical jet on the tarmac in Anne Arundel County.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
Jim Obergefell
At the time, Arthur was in the last stages of ALS.
Friends paid $14,000 to charter the plane.
"The nurse and the two pilots left the airplane so we could have some privacy, and with John's Aunt Paulette officiating, we got to say, 'I thee wed,' and that's all we wanted to do," Obergefell said. "We just wanted to get married. We wanted to exist in the eyes of our government, and we wanted John to die a married man."
While there were other states that recognized same-sex marriage at that time, they came to Maryland for one simple reason.
"Maryland was the only state that did not require both of us to appear in person to apply for a marriage license. And for me, that really helped keep John at home safe and comfortable. I could go by myself to get the marriage license. I did not have to take John with me at that point. We did not have to find a place to stay overnight or anything else. I could get that marriage license, and then, all John and I would have to do is get to Maryland for the ceremony," Obergefell said.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
Jim Obergefell
Battle at home
The couple soon discovered another problem after a civil rights attorney in their home state read about their marriage and reached out to them.
"He came to our home with a blank Ohio death certificate, and he said, 'Do you guys understand? When John dies, his last record as a person—his death certificate—will be wrong because of the Ohio state-level Defense of Marriage Act. The state will completely disregard your lawful marriage in Maryland, and when they fill this out, they will say John was unmarried at the time he died, and Jim, your name will not be there as his surviving spouse.'"
Obergefell and Arthur sued.
"Eleven days after we got married, I was in court for the hearing on our case, and that very same day, federal Judge Timothy Black ruled in our favor and said, 'Ohio, when John dies, you must complete his death certificate correctly,'" Obergefell said.
Ohio then appealed and won a victory, Obergefell recalled, "setting us up for our appeal to the Supreme Court, and Ohio fought that all the way to the Supreme Court."
His husband died before seeing their victory in Washington, D.C.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
Jim Obergefell
Remembering John Arthur
Hellgren asked what Obergefell wants the public to remember about his late husband.
"When we decided to file our lawsuit, he gave me his ok to take time away from him. He was dying of ALS, and he was in at-home hospice care fully bedridden, and he knew doing this—filing a lawsuit—would take me away from him, but it was important for him—to him—for us to exist, so he gave me his permission to take time away to fight this fight," he said.
Obergefell described Arthur as charming, funny and generous.
"He just was one of those people who would walk into a room filled with others—people he'd never met—and by the time he left that room, he had talked to every single person, he charmed them beyond compare," Obergefell said. "And he just was so funny. I mean, we still laugh, friends and I. We still laugh about some of the things John would say, and I was fortunate enough to meet him, to fall in love with him and to have him love me back."
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and the case began with a couple who got married on the tarmac at BWI Airport.
Jim Obergefell
"Marriage is not Safe"
Obergefell is still fighting.
Some conservative justices have called for the nation's highest court to review the landmark marriage decision.
"We've had two Supreme Court justices point blank say they want to overturn Obergefell, so no one should think marriage is safe. We have state legislatures passing resolutions calling on the Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality. We have religious organizations doing the same thing," Obergefell said. "Marriage is not safe, and I think anyone who says it is, I think they're fooling themselves."
Earlier this month, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to fight to overturn Obergefell's case no matter how long it takes.
"It just makes me angry, and I simply don't understand it. Our marriages don't harm anyone else," Obergefell said. "We absolutely cannot assume marriage is settled law. People thought that about abortion rights, and after 49 years, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. So, if a right that people enjoyed for 49 years can be overturned by this court, a right we are just coming up on 10 years of having is at risk."
Still, he has hope for the future—and no regrets about being the face of the case that legalized same-sex marriage.
"I can't think of a single thing I would do differently," Obergefell said. "John and I reacted to a situation we found ourselves in. We made a decision—a decision we had never once in our lives considered—but it was the right decision."
Obergefell said there is "power in hope."
"We need to find hope these days, because there are a lot of reasons for us to feel disheartened, to feel afraid. And we need that hope," he told Hellgren. "And for anyone out there who is feeling discouraged or afraid, terrified, I understand. I get it. I'm there with you but just know that I and millions of other people are continuing the fight to make things better for others."
Ruling Resonates
Even today, Obergefell said the words of the ruling in his favor resonate.
"That last page of the decision is something that I know by heart. I joke that it feels like there's a law that was passed that said that last page must be included in every queer marriage ceremony—and also a lot of straight marriage ceremonies. And it's a beautiful piece of writing, and what I love about it is, it talks to what marriage means and why it's important to people."
He is referring to what Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his 5-4 majority opinion, "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 once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."
Marriage equality in Maryland
Maryland legalized same-sex marriage in January 2013 after a statewide referendum.
The fight for equality began long before that vote.
Pioneering couple Gita Deane and Lisa Polyak filed a lawsuit a decade earlier. While they were unsuccessful before Maryland's highest court at the time, their legal battle laid the groundwork.
The couple recently spoke to WJZ about their journey.
"I think we were on an education and awareness campaign in this state," Deane said. "I think it's important for people to see that we are their neighbors. Our children are in their schools. Their own children might be LGBT, and the fear needs to go away. We can all link arms and move forward together."