White House Publishes Open Letter From Jim Obergefell, One of Today's Winning Plaintiffs

Photo via WikiCommons/Ad Meskens

Following news of today's historic victory for marriage equality, the White House reached out to Jim Obergefell, one of the plaintiffs in the winning Supreme Court case, to get his thoughts. He asked that the White House share an open letter.

Here's some of what he had to say:

"My husband John died 20 months ago, so we're unable to celebrate together the Supreme Court's decision on the case that bears my name, Obergefell v. Hodges."

"John and I started our fight for a simple reason: We wanted the State of Ohio to recognize our lawful Maryland marriage on John's impending death certificate. We wanted respect and dignity for our 20-year relationship, and as he lay dying of ALS, John had the right to know his last official record as a person would be accurate. We wanted to live up to the promises we made to love, honor, and protect each other as a committed and lawfully married couple."

"I can finally relax knowing that Ohio can never erase our marriage from John's death certificate, and my husband can now truly rest in peace.

Marriage is about promises and commitments made legal and binding under the law, and those laws must apply equally to each and every American."

Read the full letter here.