McConnell, Michael, 1942-

James Michael McConnell[2] and Richard John "Jack" Baker[3] are the first same-sex couple to be married legally[4][5] with a license that was never revoked.[6] Their wedding became the earliest same-sex marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government.[7][8]

McConnell, a librarian, and Baker, a law student, were gay activists in the U.S. state of Minnesota from 1969 to 1980. After their marriage in Minnesota on 3 September 1971, they were invited often to appear publicly at colleges, schools, businesses and churches in the U.S. and Canada.[9] In late 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court in Baker v. Nelson affirmed the lower court order to deny a marriage license to same-sex partners.[10][11] Their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was accepted but later dismissed.[12][13]

Historians argued, correctly, that neither decision affected McConnell and Baker because the couple obtained a valid license from Blue Earth County when they re-applied in early 1971. Born in Norman, Oklahoma (1942), James Michael McConnell was raised and loved by his Baptist[15] parents. After graduating from Norman High School, he attended the University of Oklahoma (OU), ending with an MLS Degree (Master of Library Science). While on active duty (four years) in the U.S. Air Force, Baker was accepted in the Airmen Education Commissioning Program and stationed at OU, where he earned a BSIE degree (Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering).[17][18] He returned to Norman as a civilian – "Boy meets boy"[19] – and invited McConnell to hang out together. With reluctance, his friend agreed to negotiate a serious relationship.[16] After McConnell and Baker applied[11] for a marriage license,[53] the clerk's[54] rejection[55] was affirmed[56][57] by the Minnesota Supreme Court. However, before its "opinion" was published, McConnell re-applied – in a different county – and received a marriage license. Undaunted, McConnell listed Baker as an adopted "child" on his tax returns for which he received a deduction as head of household from 1974 through 2004. After McConnell adopted Baker,[73] he re-applied in Blue Earth County and received a marriage license, which "was never revoked".[58][6] Rev. Roger Lynn, a minister from the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, validated[74] the marriage contract at a private home in Minneapolis.[29][75]

The Hennepin County Attorney convened a grand jury, which studied the legality of the marriage but found the question not worth pursuing.[76] The Family Law Reporter argued that Baker v. Nelson[12] could not annul a marriage contract that was validated "a full six weeks" before the decision was filed.[77] In 1970, the University Librarian[84] invited Michael McConnell to head the Cataloging Division on the university's St. Paul campus. The board of regents refused to approve the offer after McConnell applied for a marriage license and regent Daniel Gainey insisted that "homosexuality is about the worst thing there is."[85]

McConnell sued and prevailed in federal District Court.[86] The board appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals,[87] which agreed that the university did not restrict free speech. Instead, it was McConnell who wanted to implement his "controversial ideas" and foist tacit approval of his "socially repugnant concept" upon the employer.[88] More than 80%[89] of the U of M students objected to the regents' behavior.

Hennepin County Library, then a diverse and growing system of 26 facilities, hired McConnell. After 37 years of service, McConnell retired as a Coordinating Librarian with gratitude expressed publicly.[90]

Michael McConnell was born in 1942, grew up in Oklahoma, and received his Master’s degree in Library Science in the early 1960s. He met Jack Baker in Norman, Oklahoma in 1966. McConnell and Baker, committed to each other as life partners with the intention of becoming legally married, moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1968. McConnell worked as an acquisitions and reference librarian at Park College, while Baker commuted to an engineering job in Topeka.
In 1969, both men moved to Minneapolis. McConnell accepted an offer of a position as head cataloger on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus library. Baker applied to and enrolled in the University of Minnesota Law School.

Almost immediately upon arriving in Minneapolis, McConnell and Baker’s lives were immersed in activism in the nascent Twin Cities gay community. Baker joined F.R.E.E. (FREE/Fight Repression of Erotic Expression) a local group committed to advancing homosexual visibility and rights. With John Preston, McConnell co-founded Gay House, an early gay community center in Minneapolis. McConnell’s hiring documents were presented to the University Board of Regents for routine review and approval . On May 18, 1970, the couple filed for and were denied a marriage license in Hennepin County. The breaking story quickly made national news. The couple appeared on network television, and in popular news publication, including LOOK and LIFE magazines. McConnell’s job offer was subsequently revoked by the regents, who contended that McConnell’s notoriety was detrimental to the University. McConnell took his employment discrimination case to court, soliciting the backing of state and regional library associations on his behalf. In April, 1972, The US Supreme Court refused to hear arguments on his case.

Baker, meanwhile, had become involved in campus politics in addition to gay issues. After admission to law school in 1970, Baker ran for student body president in 1971 with the intention of creating a more participatory role for students in campus governance. His agenda included agitating for student representation on Board of Regents committees, increased student-run housing and charters for a student run radio station and bookstore. He also addressed discriminatory practices in on-campus job recruitment. His student status at the law school allowed Baker to utilize student legal services to pursue a gay marriage appeal in the courts. Baker ran for student body president again in 1972, and was re-elected by a wide margin. In October 1972, after making its way through Minnesota and Supreme court, the US Supreme Court again refused to consider a case involving McConnell and Baker, this time declining to deliberate on the validity of the McConnell/Baker marriage.

In August 1971, after being denied a Hennepin County license, McConnell and Baker were able to obtain a marriage license in Blue Earth County, Minnesota by testing weaknesses in Minnesota marriage residency laws. On September 3, 1971, Rev. Roger Lynn, a Methodist minister, officiated at McConnell and Baker’s marriage ceremony in Minneapolis.

Hennepin county officials at once disputed the validity of the license. Minnesota law at the time required that a license be issued in the bride's county of residence. “Because there was no bride, officials argued, there could be no entitlement to a license. After the executed license was filed, the Hennepin County Attorney convened a grand jury, which declined to indict either the couple who procured the marriage license or the minister who authenticated it.” ¹

By the beginning of the 1980s, both McConnell and Baker were settled into their respective careers in librarianship and law. McConnell was hired by Hennepin County Libraries in 1971, where he held progressively more senior administrative positions. McConnell retired from Hennepin County Libraries with commendation in 2010. Baker ran several times as a candidate for Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Both men continued to contest laws that limited their identity as a married couple.

A coda to the couple’s ongoing actions asserting the legitimacy of their marriage involved the filing of joint tax returns. “In 2003, Baker and McConnell filed a joint tax return for the second time. They amended their individual returns for the year 2000, filing jointly as a single couple, pursuant to the marriage license previously issued by a Minnesota District Court. The IRS challenged the validity of the marriage license and argued that, even if the license were valid, the Defense of Marriage Act (voted into law by Congress in 1996), did not allow it to be recognized. An appeal was dismissed by the U.S. District Court of Minnesota and affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.” ²