Jim Obergefell was the named plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges, a case involving more than thirty marriage equality plaintiffs from four states. Circumstances thrust Jim into this role; after marrying John, his partner of more than twenty years, who was dying of ALS, they decided to file suit against the state of Ohio to demand recognition of their lawful Maryland marriage on John’s impending death certificate.After the Supreme Court ruling made marriage equality the law across the entire United States on June 26, 2015, Jim has embraced a career as a speaker with the APA Agency and continued his work as an activist with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Ohio. Jim has been honored with awards from organizations such as 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 Jim one of its 2015 Global Thinkers, and Out magazine named Jim to its 2015 Out 100 list.Jim lives in Washington, DC.