[ [link removed] ]Demand Justice PAC[ [link removed] ]Demand Justice PAC
John,
Ten years ago today, I was sitting in the Supreme Court fighting for my
husband, John, and for queer couples like us across the nation.
[ [link removed] ]Before sharing our story, I ask that you chip in to Equality Ohio and
Demand Justice PAC to help protect our freedoms.
After ALS stole almost all of his physical abilities, I became John’s
caretaker. After all, that’s what you do when you love someone. We began
at-home hospice care out of concern over how John would be treated as an
out gay man in a hospice facility. Even if we had been married, would they
recognize me as his spouse in a healthcare setting?
We had wanted to get married since the mid-1990s, but it became especially
important to us as he neared the end of his life. Because marriage
equality was not legal in Ohio, we flew to Maryland within two weeks of
the Windsor decision striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
The day I took John’s hand in mine and we got married on the tarmac of a
Maryland airport, was the happiest day of our life together.
When we discovered the State of Ohio would refuse to list John as married
or recognize me as John’s surviving spouse on his death certificate at the
time he died, we started the fight that eventually became the Supreme
Court case Obergefell v. Hodges. Although John died before our historic
win, seeing how marriage equality has changed so many lives reminds me of
him daily.
Sadly, the right to marriage we fought for is under attack, again.
Ten years later, anti-equality forces are attacking our rights like never
before. In fact, they’re passing state laws and resolutions, trying to get
the Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality.
[ [link removed] ]Please split a donation between Equality Ohio and Demand Justice PAC to
make sure we can keep fighting back.
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You don’t have to take it from me. Just this year, the Idaho House passed
a resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the Obergefell
decision. Just a few months ago, the North Dakota House passed a similar
bill. Supreme Court justices have also made it clear they want to overturn
Obergefell and other decisions.
Even worse are the attacks on the transgender community, including in my
home of Ohio, where transgender youth are subject to laws that have torn
their healthcare away, removed their right to play sports or use the
correct restroom at school and subjected them to a forced outing law, even
when doing so puts them at risk of abuse at home.
I was lucky to love John, and our willingness to fight for each other –
and our relationship – helped make the world a better place. I couldn’t
have done it without more than thirty other plaintiffs and the attorneys
who were part of Obergefell v. Hodges. It was a group effort, and that’s
why we need your help today.
[ [link removed] ]Will you split a donation between Equality Ohio and Demand Justice PAC
to stand with me and defend LGBTQ+ Equality?
We won because our community refused anything less than equality. We
refused to live in a world where birth and death certificates could ignore
our lawful marriages. We refused to live in a world where we were unable
to say “I do” to the person we love.
Today, we refuse to live in a world where birth certificates are
weaponized to deny our gender identity. We refuse to live in a world where
a loving parent cannot make healthcare decisions for their child. It’s
time for us to demand equality and justice again.
We know what life was like before, and we are NOT going back.
This time, I hope you’ll join me and commit to protecting our right to not
only love, but to exist.
Love first, and always,
Jim
[ [link removed] ]Photo of Jim Obergefell
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