Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality

Debbie Cenziper · Jim Obergefell

iyn 2016 · HarperCollins

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An “effecting, eloquent account” of the historic victory for marriage equality by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the plaintiff who fought the case (Kirkus).

In June 2015, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law in all fifty states. Through insider accounts and access to key players, this definitive account reveals the dramatic events behind Obergefell v Hodges—and the fascinating lives at its center.

Decades ago, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur fell in love in Cincinnati, Ohio, a place where gay men lived in fear of being arrested. When the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the federal government had to provide equal benefits to all married couples, Jim and John—who was dying from ALS—flew to Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal, to exchange vows on an airport tarmac. But Ohio refused to recognize their union, and they learned that John’s death certificate would describe him as single. When John passed away, Jim would not only mourn a devoted partner, but would be denied acknowledgment of the life they had shared.

When civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein met Jim and John, he saw how their grief was compounded by the state’s refusal to recognize their relationship. It was a terrible injustice—and a vital legal opening that could make historic change. Together, Al and Jim battled state leaders, lawyers, and community groups who opposed their cause. But they also partnered with more than fifty lawyers and plaintiffs in three other states and ultimately celebrated together when the Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

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Debbie Cenziper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and nonfiction author who writes for The Washington Post. She is also the Director of Investigative Reporting at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Over 20 years, Debbie's stories have sent people to prison, changed laws, prompted FBI and Congressional investigations and produced more funding for affordable housing, mental health care and public schools. She has won dozens of awards in American print journalism, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award, given by Ethel Kennedy and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights, the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting from Harvard University, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. She is the author of two nonfiction books, "Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality," (William Morrow, 2016) and "Citizen 865: The Hunt for Hitler's Hidden Soldiers in America," (Hachette, 2019). Debbie graduated from the University of Florida and lives with her family near Washington, D.C. See also www.debbiecenziper.com. Jim Obergefell is an LGBTQ+ and civil rights activist, public speaker, and board member of several non-profit organizations, including Board of Advisors of Mattachine Society of Washington, DC and the National Advisory Council of the GLBT Historical Society.. Jim co-founded Equality Vines, the world’s first cause-based wine label, to support organizations fighting for equal rights.