Jimmie Beall said she remembers waking up 10 years ago and telling her now wife, then Mindy Ross, that today was the day they were going to get married. She was right.
Beall and her wife, now Mindy Beall, were the first same-sex couple to get married in Franklin County, and now they are celebrating their 10-year anniversary.
June 26th, 2015 was the day that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down their decision on Obergefell vs. Hodges, an Ohio case that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. Before the decision, same-sex marriage was legal in only 36 states. In Ohio, it was banned.
Beall and her wife would visit the Franklin County Probate Court every Valentine’s Day to get a marriage license. Every year before the decision, they would be turned away with apologies and cookies.
“I was pretty sure it was gonna happen that day. I baked a huge tray of cookies, all different kinds of cookies. Because I thought, I'm gonna be the one with the cookies this time,” Beall recounted. “I'll have a marriage license and they can have the cookies.”
The couple had a wedding ceremony the next year on Valentine’s Day.
Beall said they are celebrating with dinner and a blanket her wife bought that has the entire Supreme Court decision written on it in rainbow stripes.
“That was always a dream. And you know, growing up, when you think you're never gonna be able to have those dreams, that's kind of hard,” Beall said about wanting to get married. “My wife says all the time, 'I never thought I would see marriage equality in my lifetime.'”
However, Beall also spoke about the continued fight for equality.
“We still don't have workplace protections. We don't. You can still be fired for being gay or trans or whatever,” Beall said. “We still don't have protections against housing discrimination or public accommodations.”
She noted the increase in anti-transgender rhetoric and bills across the country.
“They put flags around the Stonewall Memorial in New York every year. And it's always the progressive flag, the bi flag, trans flag, you know, bear flag, all that,” Beall said. “This year it was only LGB flags. No trans flag. No progressive flag. None of it.”
Beall also said that the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022 has also caused her and her wife to worry about the possibility of Obergefell vs. Hodges being overturned as well.
Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage has never been repealed from the state's constitution. It currently remains unenforceable due to the Supreme Court ruling.
“People need to be reminded regularly that these are not just partisan topics for bantering, but rights, protections and people’s lives,” Beall and her wife later said in an email.
Despite their worries, the Bealls are still celebrating.
Beall said she loves being married, “It's so beautiful, but we’ve got to protect it or it will be gone.”
