The plaintiffs of a prominent upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges come to Ohio University for a panel on marriage equality on Tuesday, March 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Athena Cinema.
The event, “Marriage Equality at the Supreme Court: The Plaintiffs and Their Stories,” features delfin bautista, Director of the Ohio University LGBT Center, and case plaintiffs James Obergefell, Kelly Noe and Kelly McCracken.
Obergefell and John Arthur were married in Maryland in July 2013. Arthur passed away that October in their home state of Ohio. Despite Ohio’s laws banning recognition of homosexual marriage and through the District Court, Obergefell was listed as Arthur’s surviving spouse on his death certificate. However, Ohio has appealed that ruling, and the case is now pending before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court overturns the District Court’s order, the state will amend Arthur’s death certificate to remove the reference to the couple’s marriage and the name of Obergefell as Arthur’s surviving spouse. Obergefell seeks to make permanent the recognition of his marriage to Arthur.
Noe and McCracken have been in a loving, committed same-sex relationship since 2009, and they were married in Massachusetts in 2011. The two decided to have a child together, went through the process of artificial insemination through an anonymous donor, and Noe delivered a baby in Cincinnati in June 2014. Under Ohio law, the natural father of a child born through artificial insemination is legally listed as the married opposite-sex husband of the birth mother. Noe and McCracken wish to have their marriage recognized on their baby’s birth certificate.
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Law, Justice & Culture, the LGBT Center, the Women’s Center, the Department of Political Science, the Department of English, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Student Senate.
For more information, contact Larry Hayman at hayman@ohio.edu with any questions.
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