Baker, Jack, 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. 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. . Baker was born in Chicago (1942) and, after both parents died, spent grades 1 - 12 at Maryville Academy,[15] a Catholic boarding school.
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).[16][17] He returned to Norman as a civilian – "Boy meets boy"[18] – and invited McConnell to hang out together. With reluctance, his friend agreed to negotiate a serious relationship.[15] Attendees elected Jack Baker, a law student,[25] to serve as president team called "Fight Repression of Erotic Expression" as part of an outreach program sponsored by Minnesota Free University.[22] Robert Halfhill, a graduate student who attended their lecture, wanted more than "just a social organization".[23] He left, determined to lead an independent group of "FREE"[ In 1971, Members of FREE from Gay House invited friends to meet at picnics in Loring Park, near Downtown Minneapolis. Such events, which encouraged self-pride, began in mid-June as a prelude to local celebrations of Independence Day.[23] Thom Higgins, Prime Archon of the Church of the Chosen People, crafted Gay Pride[21] for the banner that would lead the crowd as it encouraged allies, supporters and bystanders to punish[40] the Catholic archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for his public condemnation of both the gay life-style and self-pride as sinful.
At the time, Jack was the chair of the Target City Coalition, parent corporation for The Gay Pride Committee, which sponsored the Festival of Pride each June.[41] Such celebrations spread and became the PRIDE tradition[21] that thrives today in cities throughout the United States. After McConnell and Baker applied[11] for a marriage license,[51] the clerk's[52] rejection[53] was affirmed[54][55] by the Minnesota Supreme Court. However, before its "opinion" was published, McConnell re-applied – in a different county – and received a marriage license Their joint tax return for 1973 was rejected by the Internal Revenue Service.[68] Likewise, the Veterans Administration rejected McConnell's request for spousal benefits.[69] 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. That benefit ended when Congress limited the deduction to an individual under the age of 19After McConnell adopted Baker,[71] he re-applied in Blue Earth County and received a marriage license, which "was never revoked".[56][6] Rev. Roger Lynn, a minister from the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, validated[72] the marriage contract at a private home in Minneapolis.[28][73]
The Hennepin County Attorney convened a grand jury, which studied the legality of the marriage but found the question not worth pursuing.[74] 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.[75]
Professor Thomas Kraemer insisted that FREE hosted "the first same-sex couple in history to be legally married".[76] In 2018, "The [1971] marriage is declared to be in all respects valid."[4]
