Samuel Alito is afraid of being called a bigot? Jim Obergefell has heard far worse (exclusive)

Pity the poor Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Sticks and stones may break his bones, and being called names clearly does too.

Yesterday, the ultraconservative Alito expressed disappointment regarding the dismissal of potential jurors with homophobic religious beliefs in a discrimination case involving a lesbian.

Alito noted in an order issued on Tuesday that a lower court's rationale might become more widespread and indicative of future legal trends. “That holding exemplifies the danger that I anticipated in [the marriage equality decision] Obergefell v. Hodges … namely, that Americans who do not hide their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual conduct will be ‘labeled as bigots and treated as such’ by the government,” he wrote.

Well, the man involved in the case he cited has some choice words for Alito.

“I just find it stunning that he is concerned about them being called names, when we've been called names our entire lives, not only in courtrooms, but on the streets, in our schools, everywhere, even in our homes. So, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to shed a tear for someone who is called a homophobe,” marriage equality champion and activist Jim Obergefell recalled to The Advocate Wednesday.

Obergefell, who is currently working as a producer on the JustMarried Project, a docuseries, podcast, and book about the history of marriage equality, was the named plaintiff in the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which resulted in the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. Obergefell brought a lawsuit against the state of Ohio because it did not legally recognize his marriage to his late husband, John Arthur.

During the case, “there were protesters outside of the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati and protesters outside of the federal courthouses, and all of the people with signs and their bullhorns calling us perverts, evil, homos, and so many other names, and saying that we were going straight to hell.”

The marriage equality activist made the decision early on that he was not going to read comments on social media because he knew how bad they would be, and he didn’t want that to be a distraction or to dampen his spirit as he forged ahead.

Obergefell says he understands the impetus behind the desire by conservatives to overturn marriage equality. “Well, it’s a campaign issue for the far right, because they don’t have much else to campaign on," he said. "But it’s also an attempt to have the entire society of the United States comport themselves to the beliefs of the religious right.”

One of those beliefs is that homosexuality is a sin, but if it were a sin – and it is not – it’s not their sin, so why the animosity toward something that doesn’t personally affect them?

“Being queer was not one of the Ten Commandments,” Obergefell observed. “And the basis for religion is that you treat people the way you want to be treated, so they obviously don’t believe in that, because if marriage is overturned, they don’t suffer, we do, and we suffer significantly.”

Their hypocrisy seems so blatantly obvious, so why isn't it obvious to them? Obergefell explained that far-right lawmakers and justices have just kept spiraling.

“They’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole, so they would never think of themselves as being hypocritical. Before gay marriage became legal, we were treated as second-class citizens without the same rights as everyone else. We were discriminated against, jailed, and vilified. Now we have a 19th-century court that wants to take us back to those days. That’s discriminatory which is the definition of bigotry.”

If marriage equality is overturned, then it follows that what’s happening with abortion will happen with marriage – you can be legally married in New York and at the same time be unlawful and discriminated against in Alabama.

“Make no mistake, if the right case happens to fall to a Trump-appointed judge, the dominoes will start to follow for overturning marriage equality,” Obergefell warned. “And if that happens, the freedom of movement, to be the same person in every state, which is a fundamental pillar of democracy, will be threatened.”

Did Obergefell also fear that he might be back in court someday?

“It wouldn’t surprise me, but the only way to prevent this is to be vocal and pay attention to the atrocities and demonization coming from the other side. While they don’t want to be called bigots, they will be calling us much worse.”