The U.S. Supreme Court Could Take Aim At A Landmark Decision Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Like most couples in love, Jim Obergefell and his partner, John Arthur, always dreamt of getting married.
"We wanted to get married," Obergefell said. "We just never thought we would have that ability because it wasn't the possibility in the mid-nineties anywhere."
As time went on, and views on same-sex marriage changed, so did the laws. In July of 2013 Jim and John, who was battling ALS, boarded a plane for Maryland to be married.
"We wanted to make our promises to each other public and legal," Obergefell said. "We believed we had that right."
Upon returning to their home state of Ohio, they learned that when Arthur passed away, an unavoidable outcome due to his ALS diagnosis, his death certificate would say unmarried, as Ohio didn't recognize same-sex marriages.
So the couple sued the state of Ohio and took the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Arthur wouldn't live to see the outcome, but on June 26, 2015, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex marriage was made legal nationwide.
Obergefell said when the decision was announced he "burst into tears."
"[I] missed John terribly," he said. "But honestly, it was the realization that for the first time in my life as an out gay man, I felt like an equal American."
Now, just seven years later, that feeling could be in jeopardy.
After the Supreme Court announced its decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas urged his colleagues to reevaluate other landmark cases protecting contraceptive access and same-sex marriages on the same bases.
Clarence made this push even though the majority opinion clearly said Friday's ruling only applied to abortion access.
Mark Graber, the Regents Professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, said it is hard to say what will happen next.
"One thing we know for sure is conservatives will start to push the court," Graber said.
Obergefell said he is appalled by the Supreme Court's recent decision and is worried about what it could lead to.
"This decision, impacting women's rights and the threat it poses to LGBT+ rights, and who knows what else, it is a terrifying, devastating, horrible decision for our nation and the values we supposedly represent," Obergefell said.
