Marriage ruling plaintiff from Ohio dedicated to activism

CINCINNATI (AP) — Three years ago Sunday, Jim Obergefell asked his longtime partner to marry him, beginning a whirlwind of events that led to his name being at the top of the U.S. Supreme Court case that resulted exactly two years later in legalization of same-sex marriage across America.

Obergefell is crisscrossing the country promoting a new book about the legal battle and other plaintiffs and people closely involved in it, written with journalist Debbie Cenziper and titled "Love Wins."

Some states are debating legislation critics say would legalize discrimination, and 11 states are suing President Barack Obama's administration over its directive to let transgender students use public school bathrooms and locker rooms to match their gender identities.

A pending Ohio bill, dubbed the Pastor Protection Act, would let churches and pastors refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

Over coffee awhile back in Cincinnati for book-signings, Obergefell, 49, a Sandusky, Ohio, native who is moving to Washington D.C., talked about the state of the rights movement and his own plans.

What's your reaction to the shootings this month that killed 49 people in Orlando (in a gay nightclub)?

[...] we're angry that so many politicians won't event utter LGBTQ when they talk about this atrocity.

[...] there was no question in my mind that I could not hold an event and talk about love and equality and fairness in a building when I know my transgender siblings are not being treated that way.