James Obergefell has lived with the love of his life for 20 years before they married two weeks ago.
They also hoped to be buried next to each other, to spend eternity together, but the state of Ohio and his spouse’s relatives won’t let him – because he married another man, John Arthur.
Last week, the two men sued Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Cincinnati doctor responsible for approving death certificates. Obergefell and Arthur asked a judge to overturn existing Ohio law – which doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage – to allow Obergefell to be listed as surviving spouse on Arthur’s death certificate and for it to show that Arthur’s marital status at death as married.
Though Black’s temporary restraining order supporting their death certificate request was specific to the couple’s case, opponents of Ohio’s ban on gay marriage were encouraged by it.
“This is going to open the door to create a large number of same-sex couples married in other states” to try to change the law, said the couple’s attorney, Al Gerhardstein.
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