"Once Upon A Time In America..."

Minneapolis 1971 - Michael McConnell and Jack Baker apply for their marriage license

‘We had America’s first gay marriage — in 1971’
Jack Baker as told to Helen Barrett

The Financial Times
August 7, 2015

Jack Baker had to change his name and be adopted by his partner in order to be able to marry him

I met Michael at a Halloween party near Norman, Oklahoma, when I was 24. It was 1966, homosexuality was illegal in most states and many gay men lived in fear and secrecy, although there were always parties and ways to meet. Six months later, we were in love and I suggested we live together. An earlier relationship of Michael’s had been traumatic so he said, “If we’re going to do this, you have to find a way for us to get married.” I said, “In that case I had better enrol in law school.”

We were determined to make it happen. Michael had been out for years, and took confidence from a supportive family. My parents died when I was four, and I was sent to a Catholic boarding school. I was happy but I never liked adults telling me how to live.

We moved to Minneapolis because of the quality of the law school and the cool climate — Michael was sick of hot weather. We didn’t know until we arrived that Minneapolis was also a hotbed of gay activism in the late 1960s. Many of the ideas generated here, like gay marriage and gay pride, were taken to the West Coast and beyond. What is not forbidden is permitted, and nowhere in Minnesota’s statutes was same-sex marriage forbidden. So we applied to Hennepin County courthouse in 1970 for a marriage licence, and were turned down.

Jack Baker: 'We wore white handmade suits with bell-bottoms'

We got a review, and Baker v Nelson went to the district court, then the Supreme Court of Minnesota in 1971. Nelson was the name of the clerk of the county court who just flat refused to issue the licence. The case then went to the US Supreme Court in 1972 on direct appeal but there was no hearing, they just dismissed it.

We knew it was going to take a long time. We looked for a fallback option, and next best to a marriage licence was adoption, because you received some of the same privileges, such as medical and inheritance rights.

Then it dawned on me. Our attorney said, “When the judge issues an adoption decree, you’re entitled to a name change.” I thought, OK, we could change my name to something gender neutral and apply for another marriage licence in another county. I was carrying out my promise to Michael. If bullies with power were not going to follow the rule of law, then that was a game that two could play. In some states, you are allowed to marry your adopted parent. So Michael adopted me, and I chose the name: Pat Lyn McConnell.

We had to move quickly. Weeks before the Minnesota Supreme Court rendered its decision, we went to a friend’s house in Blue Earth County, set up residence and stayed for several days. Michael went to apply for the licence, used his correct legal name and my correct legal name, and nobody asked questions. After seven days, Michael went back to collect the licence and it was issued.

We were married on September 3 1971 and the wedding was held in the apartment of a friend. We wore white handmade suits with bell-bottoms. Roger Lynn was the minister who married us. We’ve had a 45-year friendship with him, and he says this is one of the most successful marriages of his career. We have been married nearly 44 years. There are those who claim our union is not legal but only a court has the power to invalidate a lawful contract, and no court has done that.

Michael and I were not surprised when the US Supreme Court ruled this year that gay marriage is a legal right. We felt when we began that marriage equality was inevitable. It was a vindication. The court answered the question we posed in 1971. They overruled the Minnesota Supreme Court in Baker v Nelson. So it was everything we had ever asked for; it said to the world that we were right.

Michael and Jack in 2011

‘The Wedding Heard ’Round the World: America’s First Gay Marriage’ is published in January 2016 by University of Minnesota Press