Jim Obergefell

Jim Obergefell is a civil rights activist who embraced his newfound role after the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land on June 26, 2015. A former Cincinnati realtor, he has worked with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and Equality, Ohio, and has been honored with awards from organizations such as Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE), Equality Florida, Equality North Carolina, the ACLU of Southern California, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, the International Court Council, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and the Ohio Democratic Party.

Foreign Policy magazine named him one of its 2015 Global Thinkers, and Out magazine included him in its 2015 Out 100 list. The Washington Post called him “the face of the Supreme Court gay marriage case,” and NPR referred to him as “the name that will go down in history.” He earned a degree in Secondary Education and German from the University of Cincinnati in 1990.