Michael McConnell and Jack Baker

rdf:langString Michael McConnell and Jack Baker

rdf:langString Michael McConnell and Jack Baker

rdf:langString Michael McConnell and Jack Baker

rdf:langString Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

rdf:langString Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.

rdf:langString Richard John Baker

rdf:langString James Michael McConnell

rdf:langString Husbands Mike McConnell and Jack Baker in 2016

rdf:langString First legally married same-sex couple in the USA

rdf:langString James Michael McConnell (born 1942) and Richard John "Jack" Baker (born 1942) are the first same-sex couple to be married legally with a license that was never revoked. Their wedding became the earliest same-sex marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government. McConnell, a librarian, and Baker, a law student, were gay activists in the U.S. state of Minnesota from 1969 to 1980. After their marriage in Minnesota on 3 September 1971, they were invited often to appear publicly at colleges, schools, businesses and churches in the U.S. and Canada. In late 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court in Baker v. Nelson affirmed the lower court order to deny a marriage license to same-sex partners. Their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was accepted but later dismissed. , correctly, that neither decision affected McConnell and Baker because the couple obtained a valid license from Blue Earth County when they re-applied in early 1971.

rdf:langString Richard John Baker

rdf:langString James Michael McConnell