Jim Obergefell’s Reddit AMA: Fighting a Scalia-Sized Duck and Other Hilarious Questions

After the Supreme Court decided the case of Obergefell V. Hodges in favor of nationwide gay marriage, Jim Obergefell was catapulted into the national spotlight as a hero among LGBT activists. On Wednesday, he held an AMA on Reddit, and received numerous responses that were a mix of serious and hilarious questions.

Most of the questions he received dealt with the heavy stuff, his first response being to a question of why he thought his case was the marriage case to make it to the court above all others:

I think my case made it to the Supreme Court because of the personal basis for the case. Everyone knows someone who dies and I think our case was based on John’s impending death. It was a very specific fight within the state of Ohio and made it easy to move forward.

When asked what message he would give to those who would study his case in the future:

I would like future law students to know that my case as well as the cases of the other plaintiffs that really it was about love. Telling our government that our love is just as worthy as any other love. The fact that standing up for that love led to such a momentous change proves that it’s a very powerful force. Although the law can be antiseptic and divorced from emotion the fact that ours was based on love I think it improved the law because they could look at us and recognize that we deserve the same amount of respect as anyone else.

Not everything was so serious though. Obergefell was also asked an Internet favorite: would he prefer to fight one Justice Scalia-sized duck or 100 duck-sized Scalias:

[laughs]…oh god…I’d rather fight 1 Scalia-sized duck. Cause in essence I’ve already fought Scalia in court and I won. Also ducks make me laugh so while fighting him I’d laugh the whole time.

And then there was one about how he felt about the White House’s rainbow-lit celebration:

I didn’t have a chance to actually see it, but I had a lot of friends who did and they showed me pictures. It really made me feel proud. Having the chance to speak with President Obama and knowing what an ally he is. In the court room that day I felt more like an equal American than I had in a very long time. Then to see the President’s home and the symbol of our country lit up in rainbow colors brought it home that I live in a country that is on my side. It really made me happy. I wish I could have seen it in person, but I’m happy I saw the pictures, and having a lot of friends see it in person made it even better.

Obegefell also left things up to his commentators for certain questions. One was who would like to see portraying him and his husband John Arthur in the upcoming movie:

That’s a tough one for me to even think about right now. Who do you all think? I must say for me it has to be someone who looks good in a bow-tie [fixes bowtie].

[Image via Michael Anthony Adams/ The Star]