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Jim Obergefell among guests for State of Union

Posted at 5:13 PM, Jan 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-10 17:20:36-05

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati native who was the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that declared same-sex marriage legal across the U.S. will attend President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address.

Jim Obergefell was invited as a guest of first lady Michelle Obama.

The Supreme Court ended up hearing the case and decided in Obergefell’s favor last year, finding that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

The White House said Sunday that Obergefell will be among about two dozen guests invited to sit near the first lady on Tuesday. The guests include several veterans and service members, including one of the three Americans who thwarted an attack aboard a Paris-bound train.

Those on the guest list will highlight issues that Obama has attempted to prioritize during his tenure, such as expanded health insurance coverage, and issues that he hopes to work on during his final year, such as criminal justice. The guest list includes a California man whose partner was killed in the San Bernardino attack and the first female Army Reserve officer to graduate from the Army's elite Ranger School. One seat will be empty, to represent the victims of gun violence.

Also invited were:

- Refaai Hamo, a Syrian scientist stricken with cancer who fled with a son and three daughters to Turkey from Syria after a missile attack killed his wife and one other daughter.

- Sue Ellen Allen of Scottsdale Arizona, co-founder of a nonprofit that helps former prisoners re-enter society.

- Gloria Balenski of Schaumburg, Illinois, a woman who lost her job during the recession and whose husband was in danger of losing his job at an auto manufacturer. The couple wrote a letter to the president thanking him for economic priorities he pursued during the recession.

- Jennifer Bragdon of Austin, Texas, a woman attending junior college in hopes of becoming a teacher.

- Edith Childs of Greenwood, South Carolina, a local councilwoman who during a 2007 campaign stop, led the chant "Fired Up." The crowd replied "Ready to go." The call and response became an unofficial slogan for Obama's two presidential campaigns.

- Cynthia "Cindy" Dias of Las Vegas, a formerly homeless veteran.

- Mark Davis of Washington, District of Columbia, who started a small business that trains low-income people to install solar panels.

- Cary Dixon of Huntington, West Virginia, a mom who has called on family members to speak up about drug abuse as a sickness, which reinforces Obama's call to direct more resources into drug prevention programs.

- Lydia Doza of Klamath Falls, Oregon, a Native American pursuing a degree in software engineering at Oregon Tech.

- Lisa Jaster of Houston, a major who became the first female Army Reserve officer to graduate from the Army's elite Ranger School.

- Mark Luttrell, the Republican mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee, who has helped create specialty courts for veterans and those with mental health or drug problems as part of an effort to promote effective rehabilitation.

- Dannel P. Malloy of Hartford, Connecticut, a Democratic governor who has led efforts to increase the minimum wage and tighten gun laws following the massacre of 20 elementary school students in Newtown.

- Braeden Mannering of Bear, Delaware, a 12-year-old who started his own nonprofit that provides healthy food to the homeless and poor.

- Satya Nadella of Bellevue, Washington, the CEO of Microsoft. Under his leadership, the company increased its paid leave benefits to 20 weeks for new mothers and 12 weeks for adoptive parents.

- Jim Obergefell of Cincinnati, Ohio, the plaintiff in the landmark case establishing that same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry.

- Kathleen O'Toole of Seattle, the chief of the Seattle Police Department, who has focused on community policing and undertook a pilot program in which officers wear body cameras.

- Ryan Reyes of San Bernardino, California, an activist whose partner was among the 14 killed Dec. 2 in the attack by a radicalized couple. He wrote in defense of the Muslim community saying the twisted actions of a few should not be used to view the majority.

- Ronna Rice of Greeley, Colorado, a small-business owner whose company has benefited from trade in Asia.

- Cedrick Rowland of Chicago, who helps people find health care insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

- Naveed Shah of Springfield, Virginia, a veteran originally from Saudi Arabia who fought in Iraq.

- Earl Smith of Austin, Texas, a veteran who gave Obama a military patch he had worn while serving in Vietnam. Smith kept the patch for 40 years, from Vietnam to his pardon after serving three years in prison for a wrongful conviction. Smith gave Obama the patch when he met the then-senator during the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama carried it with him the rest of the campaign.

- Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone of Sacramento, California, who, along with Anthony Sadler and U.S. Army Specialist Alex Skarlatos, stopped a man from opening fire on passengers aboard a crowded Paris-bound train.

- Oscar Vazquez of Fort Worth, Texas, a veteran who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child and now works as a business analyst and advocate for Latino students.