Michael McConnell and Jack Baker
James Michael McConnell (born 1942) and Richard John "Jack" Baker (born 1942) are the first legally married same-sex couple in United States history. Their marriage is also "the earliest same-gender marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government." McConnell, a librarian, and Baker, a law student, were married in the U.S. state of Minnesota on 3 September 1971. Both were activists in Minnesota from 1969 to 1980. They were invited often to appear publicly in the U.S. and Canada at college events, schools, businesses, churches, etc. Historians argued , correctly, that the interpretation of "Marriages prohibited" by the Minnesota Supreme Court in "Baker v. Nelson" (1971) did not apply to McConnell and Baker because they obtained a license and were married six weeks before that Court's opinion became final. Early years. Born in Norman, Oklahoma (1942), James Michael McConnell was raised and loved by his Baptist parents. After graduating from Norman High School, he attended the University of Oklahoma (OU), ending with an MLS Degree (Master of Library Science). Baker was born in Chicago (1942) and, after both parents died, spent grades 1 - 12 at Maryville Academy, a  Catholic boarding school. While on active duty (four years) in the U.S. Air Force, Baker was accepted in the Airmen Education Commissioning Program and stationed at OU, where he earned a BSIE degree (Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering). He returned to Norman as a civilian – "Boy meets boy" – and invited McConnell to hang out together. With reluctance, his friend agreed to negotiate a serious relationship. FREE activism. In 1969, weeks before the Stonewall riots, two activists recruited local friends to join a team called "Fight Repression of Erotic Expression" as part of an outreach program sponsored by Minnesota Free University . When a faculty committee qualified the group for all privileges enjoyed by student organizations, it became "the first student gay organization to gain recognition in the upper mid-west." Its "leaders [believed] it to be the first such organization on a Big Ten campus", and the second such organization in the United States, following the Student Homophile League recognized by Columbia University in 1967. One member asked five major companies with local offices to explain their attitudes toward gay men and women. Three responded quickly, insisting that they did not discriminate against gay people in their hiring policies. Only Honeywell  objected. Later, when faced with a denial of access to students, Honeywell "quietly [reversed] its hiring policy". In 1971, Baker campaigned to become president of the Minnesota Student Association at the U of M. He promised "A New Level Of Self-Respect", insisting that there was no need to wait for a new law to involve a student voice in regent decisions. "The Regents already have the power to appoint students to all committees of the Board or Regents." The birth of PRIDE. In 1971, Members of FREE from "Gay House" invited friends to meet at picnics in Loring Park , near Downtown Minneapolis. Such self-pride events began in mid-June as a prelude to local celebrations of Independence Day. Thom Higgins crafted Gay Pride for the banner and chant to encourage allies, supporters and bystanders to defeat condemnation of both the gay life-style and self-pride as a sin by the Catholic archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. In 1973, FREE continued working with U of M faculty to protect gay students from discrimination. Central Administration approved the final draft of a new policy in 1972 and the Campus Committee on Placement Services began accepting complaints of unequal  treatment by employers recruiting on campus. A member of FREE received class credit for a documentary about America's first gay marriage, which was aired by the local CBS affiliate on a Sunday in September. Same-sex marriage activism. Lawsuit to obtain a marriage licence. McConnell and Baker applied for a marriage license in Minneapolis, arguing that "what is not forbidden is permitted". Allan Spear, a professor of history at U of M, publicly mocked them as the "lunatic fringe". The Clerk of District Court requested legal advice and eventually denied their claim. Leadership inside the American Civil Liberties Union  showed "little or no enthusiasm" for gay marriage, which was "rejected by early gay activists [in New York City] who were mostly interested in sexual freedom and gay liberation." Nevertheless, the initial application received extensive media attention, including appearances on the "Phil Donahue Show"; Kennedy & Co. (WLS-TV, Chicago IL); and "David Susskind Show" (New York, NY), where Baker insisted, "We're gonna win eventually, not this time but maybe the next time around." Same-sex marriage as a civil right. Speaking to members of the Ramsey County Bar Association, Baker insisted that same-sex unions are "not only  authorized by the U.S. Constitution" but are mandatory. "I am convinced that same-sex marriages will be legalized in the United States." Later, Baker's speech to a forum of more than 2,000 at the University of Winnipeg, convinced Richard North to begin his "fight to be married" to Chris Vogel. Courts debate their marriage. Marriage between McConnell and Baker depended on how Minnesota's marriage law was interpreted. Early results were not favorable. Dismissal was approved unanimously and quickly after the clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun crafted a one-sentence rejection. "I just [didn't] think the court was  ready at the time to take on the issue." Lower courts debated whether the Minnesota opinion qualified as a binding precedent. Not so for federal agencies. When the Internal Revenue Service rejected their joint tax return for 1973, McConnell responded by listing Baker as an adopted "child" on his tax returns. He received a deduction as head of household from 1974 through 2004. That benefit ended when Congress limited the deduction to an individual under the age of 19. Likewise, the Veterans Administration rejected McConnell's right to receive spousal benefits in 1976 because "Minnesota law prohibits same sex marriages  . . ." Adoption, name change, and a lasting marriage. After McConnell adopted Baker, he re-applied and received a marriage license. Rev. Roger Lynn, a minister from the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, validated the marriage contract. Academics and legal professionals vetted facts. "The Family Law Reporter" argued that the 1972 opinion did not invalidate the license obtained in Blue Earth County because the two were married "a full six weeks" before that decision was filed. Indeed, records at "The National Archives" verify that "McConnell and Baker's marriage license [from Blue Earth County, MN] was never revoked. They are still married  and have been for the last forty two years." Professor Thomas Kraemer insisted that FREE hosted "the first same-sex couple in history to be legally married". Their wedding was proclaimed to be America's first gay marriage and affirmed to be the "earliest same-gender marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government". Employment discrimination at U of M. In 1970, the University Librarian invited Michael McConnell to head the Cataloging Division on the university's St. Paul campus. The Board of Regents refused to approve the offer after McConnell applied for a marriage  license and regent Daniel Gainey insisted that "homosexuality is about the worst thing there is." McConnell sued and prevailed in federal District Court. The Board appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which concluded that the university did not restrict free speech. Instead, it insisted, McConnell wanted "to pursue an activist role in implementing his controversial ideas concerning the social status to be accorded homosexuals and thereby to foist tacit approval of the socially repugnant concept upon his employer." In 2012, University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler offered McConnell an apology for the "reprehensible" treatment he endured from the  Board of Regents in 1970. McConnell accepted his assurance and agreed to join the Heritage Society of the President's Club. Vindication in later years. The couple obtained a legal marriage license before appealing the rejection in Hennepin County to the U.S. Supreme Court. Though that case ended in 1972 "for want of a substantial federal question", other challenges followed. Meanwhile, they awaited affirmation of their marriage while living openly as a married couple. In 1972, Baker led the DFL Gay Rights Caucus at the State Convention of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. When the caucus persuaded delegates to  endorse "legislation defining marriage as a civil contract between any two adults", approval became the "first known case" of support by a major United States political party for same-sex marriage. In 2003, Baker and McConnell amended their individual tax returns for the year 2000, filing jointly as a couple, offering proof of a valid marriage license from Blue Earth County. The IRS challenged the validity of the marriage and argued that, even if the license were valid, the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the IRS from recognizing it. When McConnell brought suit, the U.S. District Court for Minnesota upheld  the IRS ruling and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, saying that McConnell could not re-litigate a question decided previously. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the question they tried to bring before it in 1972: "Do same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married?" Minnesota's Attorney General argued, as a friend of the court, "The procreation rationale [used by the Minnesota Supreme Court] does not support the prohibition of same-sex marriage". The inherent right of all citizens to marry the adult of one's choice was affirmed when the U.S. Supreme Court  overturned "Baker v. Nelson" in "Obergefell v. Hodges" (2015).