Once named opponents in the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage, now they’re friends
June 25, 2025
The case behind the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide a decade ago is known as Obergefell v. Hodges. But the two Ohio men whose names became that title weren’t so at odds as it would seem. Now they’re friends. Lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell and then-state health director Rick Hodges met one year after the June 26, 2015, decision, when someone associated with an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization connected them. They met for coffee and hit it off. Though Hodges had represented the state in the professional capacity of his job, it turned out he was personally supportive of same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.
