Chase will Present a Major Symposium on the Anniversary of Marriage Equality

Ten years after the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that enshrined same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, Chase College of Law will explore the history and ramifications of the case in a symposium that reunites key figures in the case that originated in adjacent Cincinnati.

“Obergefell v. Hodges 10 Years Later” will be a symposium presentation March 20 of the college’s Northern Kentucky Law Review. The program is designed for both lawyers and nonlawyers, and is open to the general public.

The opening panel of the symposium will bring together James Obergefell, the Cincinnati plaintiff; Richard Hodges, former director of the Ohio Department of Health who was the titular defendant after the department refused to acknowledge a marriage in another state on the death certificate of Mr. Obergefell’s husband, John Arthur; Al Gerhardstein, Mr. Obergefell’s Cincinnati lawyer and lead counsel before the Supreme Court; and, by recorded video, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black, who ruled in favor of Mr. Obergefell at trial (and is a Chase graduate).

While the case forever altered the legal definition of marriage in the United States, it also affected thinking about other rights. Related panels, composed of law professors, judges and advocates from around the nation, will address some of them. These include reproductive and family rights; intersection of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, involving freedom of expression and the application of the right to the states; and the future of civil rights.

“Obergefell v. Hodges 10 Years Later” will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 20 in the Votruba Student Union on the Northern Kentucky University campus in Highland Heights, Ky. Registration, which includes lunch, is $65 for the general public, $50 for NKU alumni, and free for university students, faculty and staff. Lawyers who attend may request six hours of continuing legal education credit in their licensing jurisdictions. Registration is available at  https://supportnku.nku.edu/Chase/LRSymposium?erid=27442961&trid=6ddae7b6-7dfd-4441-9908-9d665f851b7a and details on symposium panels and panelists are at https://chaselaw.nku.edu/current-students/student-life/lawreview/symposium2025.html.