New Book Documents Life Of First Gay Couple To Get Married In America

A book published this year, "The Wedding Heard 'Round The World: America's First Gay Marriage," tells the story of Jack Baker and Michael McConnell, America's first legally married same-sex couple, who exchanged vows on Sept. 3, 1971 before a Methodist minister in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their long campaign for marriage equality and insistence on equal rights for all citizens helped to establish the marriage equality movement that secured marriage rights for all American citizens on June 26, 2015 and serves as inspiration for those struggling with acceptance in a less-than-equal world.
William N. Eskridge Jr. of Yale Law School calls the book "one of the great love stories of the past century," and says that their journey "jump-started the movement for LGBT marriage equality. The librarian and the law student — Mike and Jack — are all-American pioneers. Anyone interested in gay rights — or in romance — should read this book."
McConnell and Baker currently live in Minneapolis. They both retired in 2010 after years of working within the library, law and engineering fields.
The story was penned by Gail Langer Karwoski, an author and educator residing in Georgia, who met the couple a year after their marriage; she transcribed Baker and McConnell's recounts of their lives together.
"The Wedding Heard 'Round The World: America's First Gay Marriage" is available in hardcover. For more information and to purchase a copy of the book, visit http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-wedding-heard-around-the-world.