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| Jim and Late John |
It's no news that same sex marriage has been legalized in all 50 states
in the USA..However, the new ruling sprung up from a love story between
a gay couple ..As published on
Daily Mail
In 2013, Jim Obergefell and John
Arthur were watching TV news about the Supreme Court striking down part
of the federal anti-gay marriage law. Obergefell leaned over, kissed the
man he had loved for more than two decades, and said, 'Let's get
married.'They knew they didn't have much time. Arthur was in the final stages of Lou Gehrig's disease.
Ohio
voters had banned same-sex marriage. So within weeks, a medically
equipped plane carried them to Maryland, where Arthur's aunt waited to
officiate. Arthur lay on a gurney as the couple exchanged their vows
inside the plane, on the tarmac.
Less than four months later,
Arthur died at age 48. Obergefell was listed on the death certificate as
his surviving spouse; the couple had won a court order before Arthur's
death to make it so.That victory was overturned by the federal
appeals court in Cincinnati, which upheld the same-sex marriage bans in
Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee as well.
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| On the phone with president Obama |
Obergefell sued Ohio, which banned gay marriage, after the state refused
to acknowledge his marriage to Arthur on Arthur's death certificate.
Obergefell
also has run into problems with survivor benefits and he worries about
being excluded, after his own death, from a family cemetery plot that
Arthur's grandparents set aside for married spouses and direct
descendants.None of it was a fight Obergefell and Arthur were looking
for.
Surrounded by a sea of supporters on the sidewalk outside the white
marble facade of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, James Obergefell
remembered a man who was not able to share his moment of triumph.
'I know in my heart John is here with me today,''No one could ever
accuse us of being activists,' . 'We just lived our lives. We were just
John and Jim.' Obergefell told hundreds of gay rights supporters after
the high court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
After the ruling, Obergefell received a congratulatory call from President
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