IN SEPTEMBER OF 1971, TWO MINNESOTA MEN MADE NATIONAL HEADLINES WHEN THEY OBTAINED A MARRIAGE LICENSE AND GOT MARRIED HERE.
MATTHEW McCONNELL AND JACK BAKER'S WEDDING SPARKED A BATTLE THAT WOULD LAST DECADES LONG.
THE COUPLE HAS WRITTEN A BOOK CALLED "THE WEDDING HEARD AROUND THE WORLD.
" AND TONIGHT THEY SAT DOWN WITH YASMINE MURPHY.
THEY HAVE PUBLY DECLARED THEIR LOVE.
Reporter: THE WEDDING OF JACK BAKER AND MICHAEL McCONNEL WAS SET JUST FOUR MONTHS AFTER THEY MET.
ON MARCH 10TH, 1967, JACK SAID WE SHOULD BE LOVERS WHICH WAS THE TERM THAT GAY PEOPLE USED FOR GETTING ENGAGED OR GETTING MARRIED.
AND I SAID TO HIM, OKAY, BUT ON ONE CONDITION.
AND THAT IS THAT WE FIND A WAY TO BECOME MARRIED LEGALLY.
Reporter: IT WAS THE REASON THAT HE APPLIED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA LAW SCHOOL.
MINNESOTA MARRIAGE LAW SAID NOTHING ABOUT GENDER.
SO I TOLD MIKE, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS GO DOWN AND APPLY FOR A MARRIAGE LICENSE, WHICH WE DID.
Reporter: IT WOULD NOT PROVE THAT EASY.
THE REJECTION OF THEIR MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATION MADE HEADLINES AND LED MICHAEL TO LOSE HIS JOB AS A LIBRARIAN.
THEY SAW THAT AND SAID, WE'RE WITHDRAWING THE JOB OFFER.
SO THAT ENDED MY CAREER WITH THE UNIVERSITY.
Reporter: BUT THEY KEPT TRYING.
MICHAEL ADOPTED JACK, ALLOWING JACK TO CHANGE HIS NAME TO PAT.
THEY APPLIED FOR AND GOT A MARRIAGE LICENSE IN BLUE EARTH COUNTY AND QUICKLY HELD A CEREMONY.
BUT THE COUNTY AND STATE REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE MARRIAGE.
JACK AND MICHAEL LOST A SERIES OF LEGAL APPEALS, INCLUDING AT THE U.
S.
SUPREME COURT IN 1972.
WE HAD BECOME LIGHTNING RODS.
THAT'S RIGHT.
Reporter: THEY HAVE DONATED THEIR ARCHIVE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, INCLUDING THE THOUSANDS OF LETTERS THEY HAVE RECEIVED.
THEY WOULD WRITE ON IT THEIR LITTLE THING OF FAGGOT OR SOMETHING AS A MATTER OF FACT.
Reporter: MANY OF THEM WERE SUPPORTED.
THEY WERE SUPPORTED BY MANY ORGANIZATIONS.
THIS IS A TIME THAT GAY PEOPLE WERE TERRIFIED.
THEY WERE AFRAID THEIR FAMILY WOULD FIND OUT.
THEY WERE AFRAID THEIR BOSS WOULD FIND OUT.
Reporter: IN THE '70S, THEY WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE.
MICHAEL BECAME A TOP LIBRARIAN FOR HENNEPIN COUNTY.
AS THE LEGISLATURE VOTED TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE, FEW IN THE CROWD PAID ATTENTION TO A SLENDER 70-YEAR-OLD MAN IN THEIR MIDST.
THE POWER OF THAT WAS OVERWHELMING! IT WAS SO POWERFUL! SO POWERFUL! WE KNEW IT WAS INEVITABLE IN THE '70S WHEN WE DID THIS.
WE KNEW IT WAS INEVITABLE BECAUSE THE CONSTITUTION SAID WE'RE EQUAL.
Reporter: IN 2012 THE UM FORMALLY APOLOGIZED TO HIM FOR THE JOB WITHDRAWAL IN THE '70S.
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