Jim Obergefell fears same-sex marriages ‘will be erased’ under Trump: ‘We must fight’
Jim Obergefell, who pioneered the Obergefell v. Hodges landmark same-sex marriage Supreme Court case, has warned that same-sex marriages ‘will be erased’ under the current administration of President Donald Trump.
Jim Obergefell, the American civil rights activist and lead plaintiff in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case, has expressed fears that under the current US administration – Republican president Donald Trump – same-sex partnerships “will be erased”.
Speaking to Out Magazine, the former Ohio representative said: “I always knew I’d be sharing my story for the rest of my life. But now it feels different.
“Now, I tell my story not just with joy but with fear—fear that this story will be erased, our marriage will be erased, that our right to say ‘I do’ will be erased.”
He continued: “We have taken some great steps forward, but with every bit of progress in our nation, we take steps back. If we don’t remind people where we’ve been, we’re going to lose it.”
“I feel fortunate that I can be a voice for our community, that I can continue to fight for those who are marginalized and vulnerable, because the LGBTQ+ community includes everyone—and we must fight for all of us,” Obergefell added.
Obergefell led the landmark 2015 US Supreme Court case that resulted in same-sex marriage being legalised across the United States of America.
The case ruled the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples. The ruling, which was passed 5-4 by SCOTUS, invalidated individual state laws banning same-sex marriage, and required all states to license and recognise it.
The legal battle began in 2013, when Obergefell married his terminally-ill late partner John Arthur in Maryland; after Arthur died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a type of motor neurone disease, in October 2013, Obergefell found that he could not be listed as Arthur’s surviving spouse on his death certificate.
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This was because in Obergefell’s home state of Ohio, gay marriage was not legal, but in Maryland, it was.
Obergefell took his case to court, suing the state of Ohio, and it reached SCOTUS in 2015, where the ruling was passed.
The 59-year-old shared similar fears after Trump’s reelection earlier this year.
Speaking to i News at the time, he said, “The only thing people should assume is there is worse coming, and [Trump] will do anything he wants.”
He added, “It could unravel very quickly. The Supreme Court could decide ‘we’ve got these petitions from these states asking us to overturn it, we think they’re right.”
Trump’s second presidency has been heralded by a landslide of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, including a continued effort to ban transgender athletes from sports, a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders in the first days of his presidency, the shutdown of an LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline and more.
In the United Kingdom, Reform leader Nigel Farage recently branded same-sex marriage “wrong”.