Well thank you so much for coming. I appreciate it very much. So many of you come from out of town. Thank you. [applause]. I appreciate that. What were going to do is let the party continue and you can hang around as long as you want. I will be signing books as long as there are people who want their books assigned to. Im happy to do that just to hang out. Please tell your friends about socrates in the city. Please read the book, please if you dont want to read the book at least by several copies if you dont mind. We will leave it at that. God bless bless you and god bless america. [applause]. [inaudible] [inaudible] up next on book tv Debbie Cenziper again Jim Obergefell talk about their book love wins. [inaudible] [inaudible] hello there. Welcome. I am jack schlegel. Health professionals today considered the lgbt Network Organization was founded in 1983. That is 33 years ago. As a nonprofit our professional has a threefold mission, one, career. We offer seminars and workshops on career transition and professional development. Two, community. Community. We help members build lgbt business relationships at breakfast and after work mixers. Three, culture. We program theater parties, screenings, walking tours, bus trips, and author appearances like tonight. When youre happy to remember back one of our professional favorites. For ten years he directed movie features and produced new stories at us weekly. He has conducted q as withs with dozens of newsmakers and has provided commentary on cnn, msnbc, good morning america, and the today show. As a media manager at family equality council, he was present for the Marriage Equality arguments at the Supreme Court. Please welcome bradley jacobs. [applause]. At the miami herald she was the member of its Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporting team. At the Washington Post, she, she has reported on the failure of local groups to provide services to people with aids. Her investigative reporting has led to changes in federal law. Its regarding huds Housing Program for the poor. She is the distinguished coauthor of love wins. Please welcome Debbie Cenziper. [applause]. Foreign policy magazine has named him one of the global thinkers. Proud magazine included him in his annual out 100. As the main plaintiff in last years of precourt Marriage CourtMarriage Equality case, he became the face of a movement and a legal ground breaker. He is coauthor of love wins, the book whose National Launch we celebrate today. Please welcome Jim Obergefell. [inaudible] were reminded that there is legal right after this and the mayor and the governor will be there. So i think therell probably be groups talking on them from here and down there. We know what has happened in orlando will come up there and there our conversation, i dont want to be afraid of it but i want to talk about jim, the book, in your journey together. I want to start with your last name. If you google over fell, and obama one of the first things that come up as a video of our president struggling to pronounce your last name. You were not there. But it look like some kind of press conference and he was pronouncing it wrong. But i notice when i watch the clip of you on cnn on Marriage Equality and the president called you on your cell phone and they were there to capture that incredible phone call. I found that phone call and heard anything about it that he actually avoided pronouncing your lessening. Last name. Lets talk about that phone call. When did you know that you are going to be getting a call . At some point that day someone said to me, we we have given a couple of phone numbers out in case anyone wants to call you. That is all they said. With the implication that it might be someone important. For me it came as a surprise, but i think anything could have happened in that moment and it would have been a surprise. I was just overwhelmed and in this moment where i cannot process what was going on. It could have been any person calling and i would have been amazed, but it was the president. For me i am really thrilled that cnn happen to be there. Im glad it happened right them because after i spoke with the president every single interview after that the very first question was, what did the president say, what did you say . I will tell you i have a transcript right here. He said [applause]. Barack, your body said im really proud of you, your, your leadership is change the country, you are bringing out lasting change and i cannot be more proud of you and your husband. He said he was proud twice. And then you said to the cnn anchor, thank you mr. President. You said you couldnt put into words, your stunt, and it was like nothing ever dreamed up. And when people ask me that i had no memory whatsoever of what the president said or what i said. In fact, i was nervous. I wandered over and over and over did i form complete sentences . Was i polite . With a respectful . I had no idea. So to be able to watch that was one of those moments of oi can relax now. At now. At least i did not make a fool of myself. But that was not the first time you have spoken with the president , right . You had talk with him at least once before earlier that week at a pride celebration at the white house. Correct. I had no opportunity opportunity to meet him at the white house for their pride month reception. Did he give you some kind of clue that it was going to happen . I was wondering that sounded like an apical breach . Well, what i remember him saying is that we are all looking forward to some positive news are hoping for some positive news this week. Something along those lines. So i do not know that he had any clue. I really do not think he knew. Im sure he didnt actually. He was hopeful. And that gave me hope. That was really wonderful. You have always described yourself as an accidental activist. Take us back and quickly summarize if you would how your name ended up as the lead plaintiff here. Back in 2013, june 26 of that year when the winter decision was announced, john my partner of over 20 years at that point was dying of als and was a bed ridden. I was his primary caregiver at home. When the decision was announced, i simply hugged him and kissed him and said lets get married. Luckily he said yes. We then had to go through that painful process of figuring out how to do that. But we made it happen. We came home from maryland where we got married on the tarmac, in a medical jet. We got back to cincinnati and that was all we wanted, to simply get married and live out the remaining days as husband and husband. By virtue of friends, friends, who is a civil rights attorney and telling her story, that civil rights attorney got in touch and in our first conversation with him he did something that change the course of our lives and which is turned into a change in our country. It was not planned, it it happened, and we filed suit in the state of ohio in federal court. And we won. Then later we are combined with five other cases from three other states and we lost an and appeals courts and we filed with the Supreme Court and the question was, how did it become known as overfill versus hodges, it is not complicated, mythical, or special. It is simple by virtue of time he. The Supreme Court when they consolidate cases they name it based on the lowest case number, thats all it was. Where are the lion share of the oberg fell and how did they feel having their name attached to this legendary, now iconic . I am the baby of six in all of my siblings and my nieces and nephews other than one who lives here in mine hatton, all of my nieces and nephews and my siblings are all still in Northern Ohio where he grew up. Over and over they tell me, specially my my siblings, they say jim, we cannot believe this is an ogre befell who who is doing this without there. You are in front of people and out there and speaking in doing this. No other oberg fell could have done that. They were happy and they were supportive of john and me since the moment he came into my life. They are just happy and glad its not them and that they will have rights. You do do not strike me as a limelight, loving person. You are an an it professional. Was there ever a moment where you are like i do not know if i want all of this. I dont know if i want my name in the paper or if i want to be thisi never think of myself as an icon i know when we filed suit our faces, our names, the video of us would be on the news and around the country. Theres always some trepidation we are very private people i never wanted to be someone people recognize. Someone wanted to stop in the street. But over the past two years it happened over and over. It happened on street corners here, it happened walking through times where and in airports. All across the country people see me, they recognized recognize me and they saw me. Pretty much thinking that it might be the day. Tell us a little bit about that. When did you find out it might be happening on the 25th question what. Been told by many people you should start showing up in d. C. Midjune. Its a big decision and typically they hold off on those decisions until the end of the term. They said start showing up in midjune just to be there. So i started being there for every decision day. At that point we thought well, monday june 29 because they only schedule decision days on monday. We thought monday june 29. The week of the 22nd, i was there on monday and that was the day they announced we are going to release decisions on thursday then they also added friday. That was when we all started to think wait, friday june 26, thats a somewhat important date for the Gay Rights Movement so we all started to think its going to be on friday. That morning i got to the Supreme Court, took my place in mind and i was just in the public line with 50 or 60 other people who were there to be in the courtroom in the atmosphere that morning was vastly different than every other morning. It was lighter, it was looser, it was happier, was happier, and i think it was because most of us thought june 26, we think this is a sign, people seemed happier and more upbeat. The other really amazing thing, every every time i been in court , standing in the public line when they hand out the tickets for the public spectators, every time we had been in line for oral arguments and decision days, the tickets were bright orange. That day they handed out the tickets, the Police Officer handed them out and we were chatting and i noticed something nobody else had remarked on and i held up the ticket and i said did you notice Something Different . The tickets that they were lavender. What better sign it had been orange every other single time. That day was lavender. May be assigned. May be assigned. Okay, so i was inside and they let all of us into the courthouse where we had to kill time standing in line for more and we entered the courtroom and were seated in the proceedings started and the chief justice said Justice Kennedy will read the first decision. They read the case number and i had only finally memorized at the day before. With that case number came out, i jumped in my seat, i know i squeaked or made some kind of noise. I was sitting by friends and im happy to report they still have all of their fingers as i squeeze their hands and they read the decision my first reaction was we won. I think we did. I he read some more and i thought we won but i wasnt really positive yet. Then it sunk in that we did actually win. I just burst into tears. All in that courtroom you could hear and see this electric feeling of joy and happiness, and for me there was this wonderful feeling of perhaps in my first time of my adult life of being honest with myself about who i was an honest with others, in that that part of my life, it was the first time i felt truly like an american. To hear a Supreme Court justice say john and jim, joe and rob, they are here, theyre also plaintiffs the their wonderful son cooper, pm and kelly, you all do matter. Your your relationships matter. Your children matter. I felt like part of we the people. I felt more american in that moment that we ever have in my adult life. [applause] not only that but Justice Kennedy referred to you in his writing. He wrote no union has more profound than marriage for the bodies the highest ideals of love fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. Some of the petitioners demonstrate, marriage of bodies and love may endure past death. That was unquestionably you. And also david who joined our case in ohio. He and his husband had been together for years. They have three adopted children and they had married earlier in the summer. His husband died unexpectedly. There was another widower there with me as part of the site to say our husbands death certificates deserve to be accurate. Wonderful. So lets talk a little bit about what happened then. It was an interesting coming out of the courtroom. You can get out at first because there were crowds. Describe what that was like. So i was there, our attorney was there and jean sussex with the aclu and those that argued the case and court. There were other plaintiffs there, we all gathered in the hallway outside the courtroom and we were getting ready to exit the building and go down the stairs. In my mind i was just picturing all the landmark cases, all those important cases where you see the image of the plaintiffs walking down the steps, those iconic photos, and in my mind im thinking, i get to do this. This is really going to happen. Suddenly all these Police Officers went running out of the building and down the front steps. No one said anything. Another officer said you cant exit that way. You have to exit out the side of the building. I felt disappointed. I thought well, i want want to walk down the stairs. In that moment i felt kind of selfish thinking that but it was just one of those images, one of those rights that kind of go with that building in these cases, but we exited the site of the building and read reason we had to, the crowd had pushed forward past the barricade and they were on the steps of the building. There was such a celebration that people just pushed their way forward. Just for safety sake we didnt want to be walking down the steps in the big crowd. We exited the building and ended up on the sidewalk and walked to the plaza. The attorney and i are leaving the group and were going to the crowd and i didnt really realize this, debbie pointed it out because she was there, she said jim did you realize as you and al led the groups of plaintiffs and attorneys through that crowd, they split before you like the red sea. That is exactly how it was. I think back to that and i can see it, i just didnt realize it at the moment. Walking through that crowd, this palpable sense of joy on the plaza and to see the tears, smiles on the faces of all those people, it was was one of the most Beautiful Moments of my life. I realized in that moment, i thought im glad i didnt get to go down those steps because maybe i wouldnt have had this experience and this experience is better because i am in the midst of all these people because the 30 plaintiffs and i, we did we did this for everyone. We didnt do it for us. I got to celebrate with everyone i will never ever feel bad about not having that iconic photo of walking down the steps. I would get that back for the this experience over and over. Wonderful. So much as pause and talk to debbie for a minute or two. I want to catch up everyone else. You had been working with jim and following jim for several months before the Marriage Equality decision, right . Right. You are writing the book along while this happened. Right, so like millions of people i read about jims story and johns story in the Washington Post where i work as an Investigative Reporter and i knew i wanted to tell the story. I knew i wanted to write this book and so i immediately took an unpaid leave of absence from my job at the Washington Post to write this book. So that happen even before the Supreme Court decision. I did this in april because whichever way it went, i knew this was the story i wanted to tell. Now clear up how you guys know each other because you actually go back 20 years, right . John and jim were actually at my wedding 25 years ago and i remember, i remember that like yesterday. We were in touch off and on through the years through family and i last saw john at a family event in 2011, right before he was diagnosed with als. Were you related to john through marriage. Through marriage, yes. Because when you talked in another interview how you just called jim on the phone and said i have this agent whos interested in writing a book, i was like great, i dont know how you got his phone number and presented it to him. We were in touch off and on. John and jim were in Cincinnati Ohio when i lived in different states working for different newspapers. We we were in touch off and on. I had been thinking for years about writing a book. Every journalist wants to write a book. I was at the Washington Post writing lots of stories about government corruption and fraud and lots of people doing bad things and this was a completely different thing. This was about love and commitment and family and i was so moved by it that i knew this was the book i wanted to write. Its the first book. So jim, there is a story i read about you that i wasnt sure if i was pointed mention it. I thought it was very human. That friday, june 26, you had this amazing experience and you talk about walking and seeing all the smiling faces. Then you went to the airport and sat and had your plane delayed and what happened there . All alone, right . Yes, so after the decision i did some interviews and then i went to the reagan airport in d. C. To fly back to cincinnati because the next day was the pride parade in cincinnati and i was going to ride in that parade along with and paulette