On Thursday, March 6, The Center for the Humanities will be hosting a free panel discussion at noon titled “Ten Years Later: Same-Sex Marriage Equality in 2025” at the Patricia Valencia Center for the Arts reflecting on same-sex marriage equality in 2025. 

Panelists include Jim Obergefell, a civil rights activist and plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which is credited with leading to the legalization of same-sex marriage across the United States. 

In the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, made on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry applied to same-sex couples. Additionally, states nationwide were mandated to license marriages for same-sex couples and recognize marriages for same-sex couples made in other states.

In addition to Obergefell, panelists include Alison Gash, a professor of Political Science at UO; Susan Shaw, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at OSU; and Scott Vignos, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at OSU. 

According to the event listing on PRAx’s website, event “panelists will reflect on the impacts of that landmark case on its 10-year anniversary.”

Attendees are encouraged to stay after the panel discussion to watch an open rehearsal of the OSU Wind Ensemble. The ensemble is currently practicing a piece celebrating the historical outcome of Obergefell v. Hodges, which will be performed at the ensemble’s upcoming winter concert at 7 p.m. the night of the PRAx event in Dedrick Hall. Tickets to the wind ensemble concert are free for students and $10 for the general public. 

Those interested in attending the panel discussion event can learn more on PRAx’s website. Information about the upcoming wind ensemble concert and how to purchase tickets can be found here.