Jim Obergefell marries John Arthur in Maryland

On 11 July 2013 Jim Obergefell married his partner John Arthur, who was terminally ill, aboard a medical plane on the tarmac in Baltimore, because Ohio did not allow same-sex marriage. Their suit to have Ohio list Obergefell on Arthur's death certificate grew into the Supreme Court case.

An Ohio couple travels to Maryland to marry

On 11 July 2013, Ohio resident Jim Obergefell married his longtime partner John Arthur in Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legally recognised. Arthur had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a terminal neurological illness, and could not travel by ordinary commercial transport. The couple chartered a medically equipped aircraft, flew to Maryland and completed the marriage ceremony aboard the aircraft while it stood on the ground. They returned to Ohio, which at the time refused to recognise marriages between two men.

The immediate legal question was whether Ohio would list Obergefell as Arthur's surviving spouse on his eventual death certificate. On 19 July 2013, Obergefell filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state's refusal to recognise their Maryland marriage. A federal judge granted temporary relief, and the case continued after Arthur's death in October 2013. What began as a request for accurate vital records grew into part of a constitutional dispute over equal protection and recognition of lawful marriages.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, holding that the Fourteenth Amendment protected same-sex couples' right to marry nationwide. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. The ruling substantially advanced protection of minority rights, while dissenting justices criticised the court's constitutional reasoning. President Barack Obama publicly welcomed the decision. The 2015 result was not known at the moment of the 2013 marriage; the original ceremony was a practical response to Arthur's grave illness and Ohio's refusal to record their relationship, followed by a specific legal challenge.