Equality Florida to Honor SCOTUS Plaintiff Jim Obergefell

WLRN Public Media | By Mark Stein

Published July 22, 2015 at 5:32 PM EDT

Jim Obergefell speaks after his victory at the Supreme Court

The pro-LGBT group announced Wednesday that Jim Obergefell will be the organization's 2015 winner of the Voice for Equality Award.

Obergefell was the lead plaintiff in June's Supreme Court ruling that granted same-sex couples the right to marry in all 50 states.

Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida, says Obergefell was a clear choice for the honor, which will be awarded on Nov. 15 in Fort Lauderdale.

"Jim and John's beautiful love story and their demand for basic dignity and respect played a key part in winning marriage equality for all of us," Pollitzer says. "We are so looking forward to celebrating marriage equality with Jim and with the community this November."

Obergefell and his partner, John Arthur, married in Maryland in 2013, but their home state of Ohio would not recognize the marriage certificate. Arthur, who suffered from the terminal illness ALS, died in 2013.

His death spurred a long legal battle for his husband, as Obergefell fought to be listed as "surviving spouse" on Arthur's death certificate. The case worked its way through the courts until June, when the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell's favor.