City names street after groundbreaking gay marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell
A street has been named after the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case which led to same-sex marriage being legalised across all 50 US states.
The city of Cincinnati named the street ‘John Arthur & Jim Obergefell Way’.
The street was given the honorary name after Obergefell and his late husband.
An honorary name change was unanimously approved by City Councilmembers on Wednesday.
The street’s original name was Mercer Street and the couple had lived there when Arthur died.
“John always wanted to leave a mark on Cincinnati,” Obergefell said on Wednesday.
“That was something he really wanted to do. He didn’t have that chance, but now he does. I’m incredibly grateful and I know John would be as well.”
Back in 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of Obergefell and other plaintiffs, effectively legalising same-sex marriage across the US.
The victory of equality came by a vote of 5-4, as the justices ruled both that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, and that states are required to recognise marriages from elsewhere.
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan in finding in favour of equality – while the court’s Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Scalia, Alito and Thomas authoring a dissenting ruling.
The couple lived in Cincinnati for over two decades.
Obergefell was last year honoured as a civil rights champion.
Earlier in 2016, Obergefell was invited to President Obama’s final State of the Union address for refusing to give up on having his marriage recognised by his home state.
He also endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
Despite the same-sex marriage victory, President Trump could destroy a majority in favour of LGBT rights on the Supreme Court bench.
