President Joe Biden on Jan. 2 awarded 20 recipients with the Presidential Citizens Medal, including longtime attorney Mary L. Bonauto of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson.
Bonauto and Wolfson received the award — the second-highest civilian honor behind only the Presidential Medal of Freedom — for their work fighting for marriage equality in the United States in the years before the Supreme Court established nationwide marriage equality with its landmark decision in 2015. They formally received the awards alongside other honorees at a White House ceremony on the evening of Jan. 2.
Bonauto, the senior director of civil rights and legal strategies at GLAD, argued before the Supreme Court in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case as part of a three-decade-long career with GLAD. Bonauto also took on the Defense of Marriage Act and served as a lead counsel in a case that culminated in Massachusetts becoming the first state in the nation to secure marriage equality.
“Attorney and activist Mary Bonauto first fought to legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine before arguing before the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established marriage equality as the law of the land,” the White House wrote about Bonauto. “Her efforts made millions of families whole and forged a more perfect Union.”
In a written statement, Bonauto said, “It is an astonishing honor to receive this recognition and to be in the company of other incredible individuals who have had such a significant impact on the lives of Americans. The Presidential Citizens Medal represents something fundamental: that we each have a role to play in fulfilling our country’s promises of equality, dignity, and freedom.”
Bonauto added: “I stand alongside so many courageous individuals who fought for the right to marry, and others across our nation who share a deep desire that all of our community members be treated with fairness and dignity. This recognition today is a testament to the profoundly positive impact marriage equality has had on individuals, families, and communities across our country.”
Wolfson, meanwhile, was one of the most prominent and visible leaders through the long and arduous fight for marriage equality both here and abroad in his capacity as the leader of Freedom to Marry. His work on that cause dates back to the 1980s when his law school thesis focused on marriage quality. He also went on to engage in marriage advocacy work with Lambda Legal.
“By leading the marriage equality movement, Evan Wolfson helped millions of people in all 50 states win the fundamental right to love, marry, and be themselves,” the White House noted. “For 32 years, starting with a visionary law school thesis, Evan Wolfson worked with singular focus and untiring optimism to change not just the law, but society — pioneering a political playbook for change and sharing its lessons, even now, with countless causes worldwide.”
Wolfson welcomed the honor as he reflected on his decades of work for marriage equality.
“This medal is a tribute to the transformative, democratic work we all did together, and to the power of hope, strategy, determination, and love,” Wolfson said in a written statement. “As we prepare to mark 10 years since the US Supreme Court ruling ensured marriage for same-sex couples nationwide, I’m honored to see the profoundly positive impact that the freedom to marry has had for so many families across the country, and for the LGBTQ community and American people as a whole.”
Even after achieving the freedom to marry nationwide, Wolfson stood in solidarity with other countries in their fight for equal rights for LGBTQ couples. In 2018, for example, he joined a Stonewall Inn fundraiser for Taiwanese LGBTQ advocates who were fighting against hostile forces in a successful, hard-fought effort to make Taiwan the first country in Asia to achieve marriage equality.
Other individuals who received the Presidential Citizens Medal included former Wyoming Congressmember Liz Cheney, who developed a reputation for her work on the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Cheney made a name for herself as an anti-LGBTQ lawmaker — and voted against the Equality Act during her final term in office — but later expressed regret about past positions on issues like marriage equality. She ultimately voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022.
Watch the full ceremony below:
