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Warren has ties to Supreme Court hearing of same-sex marriage case
WASHINGTON
As they stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, nervously smiling at the sea of cameras pointed at them, reality still hadn’t hit for Kelly McCracken and Kelly Noe.
“I think it’ll start to sink in on the plane ride home,” Noe said.
Today, the married couple, both 32, will be inside the courthouse as plaintiffs in a case that will have national implications for gay rights.
The nation’s highest court will hear oral arguments regarding two questions:
Does the 14th Amendment require states to license same sex-marriages?
Does the 14th Amendment require states to recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state?
The plaintiffs in the case are challenging same-sex marriage restrictions in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Kentucky, which are among the last states in the country with gay-marriage bans.
McCracken and Noe are plaintiffs in Henry v. Hodges, which is one of a bundle of cases the justices will hear arguments for during a 21/2-hour session.
“I’m hoping for the best, but when you put your faith in someone else’s hands, you never know what could happen,” said McCracken, who Valley residents might recognize as the lead singer of local band The Kellys. McCracken, originally from Warren, now lives in a Cincinnati suburb with Noe and their 11-month-old daughter, Ruby.
“The people on the Supreme Court are still human. And we would like them to think that they are going to make the decision based on dignity and love and civilness,” she said.
“As long as Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the courtroom, we’ll be fine,” she joked.
Noe and McCracken, who married in Massachusetts in 2011, got involved in the case when Noe was pregnant with Ruby and McCracken started the process of trying to get her name on their daughter’s birth certificate.
A decision — which is expected in early summer — in their favor will bring peace of mind, they said.
“I would have the comfort that Ruby’s rights are protected. God forbid that something were to happen to Kelly,” McCracken said. “As of now, Ruby would belong to the state! I mean that’s crazy to think about.
“So I would feel completely protected and know that my daughter is my daughter.”
Having Ruby here with them for the case makes the hearing even more monumental for them, McCracken said.
“I’m just very proud to be able to bring her along and have her be baby Ruby of the Supreme Court case. She’s putting a face to this whole thing,” she said.
McCracken — who speaks in a soft yet emphatic voice during an interview at her hotel during some downtime Monday — said she used to be more complacent about their situation.
“Now it’s like, wait a minute, I have rights, too. I should be able to marry. I should be able to raise a child without having it be gawked at and looked down upon and criticized and judged,” she said.
She’s already braced herself for the protesters — some of whom were outside the courthouse Monday waving signs as people lined up along the sidewalk in preparation for the hearing.
“I say everybody has the right to believe what they’re going to believe,” she said.
“We’re harmless. We’re not going to hurt anybody,” she said. “We’re not trying to redefine what marriage is; we just want included in it is all.
“It just doesn’t seem like so much energy should go toward telling us we can’t do something so loving.”
McCracken has said she feels discriminated against by the state of Ohio.
“It’s not only the fact that Ohio doesn’t recognize it, but the fact that they are so adamant in fighting it,” she said.
Their Cincinnati and Mahoning Valley communities, however, have been supportive.
“So much luck sent to us. Luck and love. And so many people thanking us,” McCracken said.
“And I just tell them, just being yourself and standing up for who you are can be so powerful. Because in my eyes, I don’t feel like I’m doing that much other than just standing up for what I believe and standing up for my rights as an American and as a human.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, released a statement Monday on the high court’s hearing of Obergefell v. Hodges, a consolidation of six lawsuits. The namesake of this landmark lawsuit is Cincinnati native Jim Obergefell, who married his partner of 20 years on a Baltimore tarmac in 2013 (same-sex marriage is legal in Maryland). Obergefell’s spouse, John Arthur, died three months later from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and since Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriage, the state refused to list Obergefell as Arthur’s spouse on his death certificate. This action led to the lawsuit.
“Mr. Obergefell’s story is just one snapshot of the heartbreak that couples must endure in states across the country that, like Ohio, deny recognition based solely on who or where they chose to marry. I call on the Supreme Court to do the right thing and end these discriminatory LGBT laws and establish a national right to same-sex marriage. It’s clear that marriage is not a state issue, it’s national,” Ryan said.