Is equal marriage under threat 10 years after historic US Supreme Court ruling?
Written by Sophie Perry – Pink News
On 26 June, 2015 – equal marriage was legalised across the entirety of the United States.
The ruling came from highest court in the US, the Supreme Court, after hearing the case of Obergefell vs Hodges.
The lead plaintiff in the case was LGBTQ+ rights activist Jim Obergefell, whose legal battle was launched by the unfair treatment of his own relationship in his home state of Ohio.
In 2013, Obergefell and his longtime partner John Arthur decided to marry in the state of Maryland – which had legalised same-sex marriage on 1 January, 2013 – after Arthur was diagnosed with terminal ALS.
After they were wed, they were informed that Obergefell could not be listed as Arthur’s surviving spouse on his death certificate due to Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage, despite them being legally married out of state.
The pair filed a lawsuit to challenge the discrimination against them as a same-sex wedded couple and the judge in the case, which became known as Obergefell v. Kasich, ruled in their favour. However, the state of Ohio appealed the decision in a higher court and won, leading Obergefell to appealed to the Supreme Court.
