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The wedding heard 'round the world, America's first gay marriage, Michael McConnell with Jack Baker as told to Gail Langer Karwoski

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The wedding heard 'round the world

Michael McConnell with Jack Baker as told to Gail Langer Karwoski

America's first gay marriage

On September 3, 1971, Michael McConnell and Jack Baker exchanged vows in the first legal same-sex wedding in the United States. Their remarkable story is told here for the first time, a unique account of the passion and energy of the gay liberation movement in the sixties and seventies. At the dawn of the modern gay movement (while New York's Stonewall riots and San Francisco's emerging political activism bloomed), these two young men insisted on making their commitment a legal reality. They were already crusaders for gay rights, and Jack had twice been elected the University of Minnesota's student president--the first openly gay university student president in the country. The couple navigated complex procedures to obtain a state-issued marriage license and were married by a Methodist minister in a friend's Minneapolis apartment. After reciting their vows, they sealed their promise to love and honor each other with a kiss and a signed marriage certificate, with immediate repercussions. Michael's job offer at the University of Minnesota was rescinded, leading him to wage a battle against job discrimination. The couple eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court with two precedent-setting cases. Today, living quietly in a Minneapolis bungalow, Michael and Jack exemplify a contemporary version of the American dream. Only now, with marriage equality in the headlines and the Supreme Court decision to make love the law of the land, are they willing to tell the entire story of their groundbreaking experiences. Their long campaign for marriage equality is a model for advocates of social justice and an inspiration for everyone who struggles for acceptance in a less-than-equal world

Prologue -- Dancing -- Romancing -- Military maneuvers -- Forcing the Air Force to fly fair -- Jack moves away -- FREE -- The right to marry -- The right to work -- Gay house -- New York, lots of resolutions -- Mister President -- Short trip to Blue Earth -- Groom and groom -- The highest court in the land -- Married life -- Back roads -- Ever after

Wedding heard around the world, America's first gay marriageAmerica's first gay marriage