Maine lawyer and Portland resident Mary Bonauto is one of 20 recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal, which were awarded Thursday by President Biden.
Bonauto is most well-known for leading arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 in the case that legalized same-sex marriage.
She also litigated and did policy work for gay marriage in every New England state, including Maine.
Bonauto first fought to legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine before arguing before the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established marriage equality as the law of the land.
She’s been the Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies for the gay rights legal group GLAD since 1990. In 1997, she was one of the attorneys who sued Vermont for not allowing civil marriages, leading to the creation of civil unions. She also won the nation’s first case over same-sex marriage, allowing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2003.
Bonauto campaigned for marriage equality in Maine, which led to a 2009 bill passed by the State Legislature and signed by Governor John Baldacci. That measure was overturned by voters in a statewide referendum.
But Bonauto was behind a subsequent referendum in 2012 that reversed to previous public vote and made Maine the first state to allow for same-sex marriage by popular election.
In 2015, Bonauto before the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established marriage equality in all 50 states.
More recently, she led GLAD Law’s marriage defense work, including supporting the recent Court of Appeals victory in Dvash-Banks v. Pompeo (2020).
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest honor for civilians in the U.S. Among the other recipients chosen by President Biden this year is former U.S. Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who campaigned for Biden and is a vocal critic of President-elect Donald Trump.
The Presidential Citizens Medal was created by President Richard Nixon in 1969 to recognize people for “exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.”
