Codify Gay Marriage Now to Thwart Clarence Thomas: Jim Obergefell
Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade being perceived as a possible threat to other recently obtained rights, including same-sex marriage and contraception, LGTBQ+ advocate Jim Obergefell says it is time to codify the right to gay marriage into state law.Since he became the plaintiff in the case that established same-sex couples have the same fundamental right to marry as opposite-sex couples in 2015, Obergefell has become a beacon of hope and strength for the LGBTQ+ community, for which he's a relentless advocate.When he brought forward the landmark case Obergefell v.
Hodges in 2015 to attempt to have his and his late husband John Arthur's Maryland wedding recognized by a court in Ohio, Obergefell says it was "a very easy decision."Now he's certain it was also the right decision to give people "the ability to commit to the person you love and to have that relationship, that marriage recognized by your state, by your country."However, he's worried that this fundamental right is in danger, after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v.
Wade on the basis that it's not rooted in the U.S. Constitution."I'm devastated for women, for people who get pregnant. For all of us in our nation who have enjoyed and expect to enjoy the right to make decisions about our own bodies, that's a terrifying thing for the highest court in the land to take away," Obergefell tells Newsweek."Now, going forward with this Dobbs decision, I am concerned about what that means for LGBTQ+ rights," he says."You know, the concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, he clearly paints a target on a woman's right to birth control and on same-sex couples, right to intimate relations in the privacy of their own home and on our right to marriage.
