The Human Rights Campaign announced that Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff of the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, will deliver a speech at the 2015 Chicago Gala Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday, Oct. 17, according to a press release.
Obergefell will join nearly 700 attendees at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave. The annual HRC Chicago Gala Dinner and Silent Auction is one of the largest LGBT fundraising events in the Midwest.
Obergefell and his late husband, John Arthur, who suffered from a terminal illness, famously had to charter a medical plane to Maryland to marry on the tarmac after being unable to access a marriage license in their home state of Ohio due to the state’s ban on marriage equality. After returning from Maryland, the couple learned that Obergefell would not be listed on Arthur’s death certificate because Ohio did not recognize their marriage. Obergefell sought the state’s recognition of his marriage to Arthur.
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