James Obergefell Honored at John Fryer Anniversary Event

“I realized for the first time in my life as an out gay man that I was an equal in America,” said James Obergefell, recalling the day in September 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of him and his late husband, John Arthur, in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges.

Obergefell, who was unable to attend in person, spoke via videoconference as the recipient of the John Fryer 50th Anniversary Speech Award at the APA Annual Meeting in New Orleans. He was interviewed by APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., through video from Obergefell’s home in Sandusky, Ohio. (The annual John Fryer Award Lecture was presented by Kenneth Bryan Ashley, M.D.; see “Fryer Lecture Awardee: HIV Epidemic Revealed Inequities That Persist Today”) The award was accepted on Obergefell’s behalf by incoming APA President-elect Petros Levounis, M.D.

The award marks the 50th anniversary of APA’s 1972 Annual Meeting in Dallas where psychiatrist John Fryer, M.D, spoke in disguise as a gay psychiatrist. The event led to the removal of homosexuality as a mental disorder in DSM a year later.

The anniversary event began with an extraordinary recording of the speech made by John Fryer 50 years ago. A voice from the past filled the ballroom of the convention center: “I am a homosexual and I am a psychiatrist. Like most people here, I am a member of APA and proud of that membership. Tonight I am, insofar as possible, attempting to speak for my fellow gay members of APA as well as for myself. … When we gather at meetings, we sometimes glibly call ourselves the Gay-P-A. But many of us now feel that we need to stand up and be listened to and understood. … As psychiatrists who are homosexual, we must know our place. If our goal is high academic appointment or admission to a psychoanalytic institute, we must be sure no one in a position of power is aware of our sexual preference. Those of us who speak out are those who have little to lose. And if you have little to lose, no one will listen to you.”

Later, Obergefell said he was struck by the last remark and recalled that when he and Arthur began their legal journey to the Supreme Court, Arthur was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

“That will stick with me—‘if you have nothing to lose, you won’t be listened to.’ I was about to lose the love of my life, so I had a lot to lose. I can’t think of a better reason to stand up and say we as gay people exist.”

From the earliest years of their 21-year partnership, Obergefell said he and Arthur had talked about marriage. “It was something we both wanted,” he said. “But it couldn’t just be symbolic. For John and I, it had to mean something; it had to be legal. So at the time we thought it would never be an option.”

Obergefell and Arthur, who lived in Ohio, married in Maryland in 2013 after the state’s Civil Marriage Protection Act went into effect. That same year United States v. Windsor struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

After meeting with a civil rights attorney, Obergefell and Arthur were told that due to Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban, Obergefell could not be listed as Arthur’s surviving spouse on his death certificate, with real-world implications for Obergefell. They then filed suit in the Southern District Court of Ohio, which ruled in their favor. That ruling was appealed to the 6th Court of Appeals, which upheld Ohio’s refusal to recognize the marriage. The case then moved to the Supreme Court.

Present at the Supreme Court in September 2015 when the decision was announced, Obergefell recalled thinking: “My marriage to John could never be erased.”

Today, he is running for office in Ohio’s House of Representatives. “I will be the only out member of the Ohio House,” he said. “I want to be a voice for our community.”

Obergefell is on the board of directors of SAGE Advocacy and Services for LGBTQ+ Elders and the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C.

“I never thought of myself as an advocate,” Obergefell said. “But being part of this has changed me forever.” ■