Jim Obergefell
Jim Obergefell was the plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges. The 2015 decision legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The federal government recognized same-sex marriage in 2013 when it struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the United States v. Windsor. The Obergefell case tackled state legality. Obergefell and his partner, John, flew from Ohio to Maryland to marry legally as John was dying from ALS. A few months later, Obergefell sued to have his name listed as the surviving spouse on his partner’s death certificate. Obergefell and Pulitzer prize winner Debbie Cenziper are the co-authors of "Love Wins."
Sharon Ullman
Sharon Ullman is a professor of history at Bryn Mawr College. She specializes in 20th-century America with an emphasis on popular culture, media and gender. She is the author of "Sex Seen: The Emergence of Modern Sexuality in America and Sexual Borderlands: Constructing an American Sexual Past" (with Kathleen Kennedy). Her current research project, "Brainwashing: The Anxious Mind of Cold War America," is under contract to NYU Press. Her courses include such topics as the history of sexuality, the culture of the cold war, and film and national identity.
