Today's Out Spotlight filed the first U.S. lawsuit to seek federal
recognition of same-sex marriage. What should have been the beginning of
a happy marriage laid the groundwork for his almost 40-year quest for
federally recognized marriage equality. Today's Out Spotlight is Richard Adams.
Richard Adams was born in Manila in the Philippines. His family moved to the United States when he was 12, and he grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota. He studied liberal arts at the University of Minnesota.
Adams became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1968 and lived in Los Angeles, California
when he met Australian citizen Anthony Corbett "Tony" Sullivan in 1971.
They were issued a marriage license along with five other gay couples
by Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex in Boulder, Colorado
on April 21, 1975.
They were married by Rev. Elder Freda Smith, clergy
in Metropolitan Community Churches and Rev. Robert Sirico (now a
Catholic priest but then MCC clergy). The event was witnessed by Rev.
Charlie Arehart, pastor of MCC of the Rockies in Denver and Frank
Zerilli, Rev. Troy Perry's long-time assistant. They were
married before the Colorado Attorney General declared same-sex marriage
licenses invalid.
Adams applied to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) for Sullivan to receive a permanent residency green card as the
spouse of an American citizen. In response, the couple received an INS
reply that stated, “You have failed to establish that a bona fide
marital relationship can exist between two faggots.”
Adams lodged a formal protest. The INS reissued their denial without
the slur.
Adams filed a suit in federal court, but the judge upheld the
INS. Adams filed a second federal suit claiming that after an eight-year
relationship, deportation of Sullivan constituted extreme hardship. The
federal district court and U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Adams.
Subsequently, Sullivan requested permanent residency for Adams in
Australia. The Australian government denied the request. In 1985 the
couple moved to Britain. Adams left behind his family and friends and a
job he had for over 18 years. After one year in Britain, the couple
returned to the U.S. and kept a low profile so as not to attract INS
attention.
Subsequent to Adams’s death in 2012 and after the U.S. Attorney General in
2011 declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, Sullivan
filed for a green card as Adams’s widower, so he could remain
permanently in the United States.
“We really felt that people could achieve the life they wanted.”
