Dear MoveOn member,
Most people don't plan on appearing before the Supreme Court.
I certainly didn't, but I found myself there in 2015 fighting to be listed as my husband's spouse on his death certificate and to win the freedom to marry nationwide.
We won that case—Obergefell v. Hodges—and now same-sex marriages are legal and recognized in America.
But if Trump gets his way, the deciding justice in that 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy, will be replaced with anti-LGBTQ right-wing extremist Brett Kavanaugh. Adding Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would swing the court dramatically toward conservatives, place the freedom to marry in jeopardy, and stop the fight for LGBTQ equality in its tracks. From my case to reproductive rights to decisions about health care, climate control, and the use of torture, critical decisions have been and will be decided 5-4—and we can't let Kavanaugh swing the Court further into a conservative majority for decades to come.
Supreme Court decisions affect all of us, though sometimes the work of the justices can feel removed from our everyday lives. But when I think about what difference one justice made in the 5-4 decision that affected my life and the fight for equality for all of us, I know how critical it is to block this nomination.
The Court's decisions impact us in the most personal ways. My husband, John Arthur, was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. I sat with him in our home in Ohio as he was bedridden for the final months of his life, reflecting on his ability to remain at peace though his body was failing. After 20 years together, we never thought that marriage was an option for us as a gay couple. Then, in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, paving the way for federal recognition of same-sex marriages. It took us only seconds to decide to wed. But how?
Within days, friends, family, and community members amazed us by helping to fund a medical plane transport to take John and me to Maryland—where we were married on the tarmac on July 13, 2013. We had three months and 11 days of wedded bliss, before John lost his heart-wrenching battle with ALS.
John and I brought our case for me to be listed on John's death certificate against the city of Cincinnati and went all the way to the Supreme Court, because we didn't want anyone else to suffer the indignity John and I faced. We won that case—but those rights could be stripped away or chipped away by future decisions if Kavanaugh pushes the Court further to the right. And as we saw just last month, workers, Muslims, and even our democracy are on the losing end of 5-4 decisions. We can't let the Court go further to the right—which is why we need to fight for all of our rights. And that means blocking Brett Kavanaugh.
Join an action on August 26 to protect equal justice under the law and oppose Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. There are more than 100 events planned across the country. And if you don't see one near you, you can organize an action of your own, and MoveOn and NARAL volunteers and staff will coach you every step of the way.
This is not a hypothetical threat. President Trump has promised that his judicial nominees will reverse landmark cases like mine and Roe v. Wade, which cemented a woman's right to choose.1 The Senate can stand united with the majority of Americans and reject Kavanaugh—but they need to hear from us. Every day. Every hour. And all across the country on August 26.
This is personal to me—but it isn't about me. It's about all of us. If Trump makes his imprint on the Court, we'll all suffer. But if we can make our imprint on senators now, we may still salvage close decisions that will impact millions of Americans.
Thanks for all you do.
–Jim Obergefell
P.S. Want to hear more on the fight to stop Kavanaugh? RSVP now for the Resist and Win call on Sunday at 7:30 ET/4:40 PM to hear the campaign strategy and learn how to dig into impactful opportunities in the month ahead.
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