Paul Barwick (1947-) and John Singer (later Faygele ben-Miriam, 1944-2000) together filed one of the first gay marriage lawsuits in American history, known as Singer v. Hara, after being denied a marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle in 1971. The two men were members of the local chapter of the Gay Liberation Front, a national activist group known for its confrontational methods of promoting sexual liberation. Although personally against the institution of marriage, the pair wanted to make a point that gays should have the same rights as heterosexuals.

In this image John Singer, left, and Paul Barwick make their initial request for a marriage license at the King County Marriage Office in Seattle. After their application was denied, the men sued for unlawful discrimination, but the courts rejected their claim and subsequent appeals. However, decades later Washington became one of the first states to approve marriage equality by popular vote, and in 2012 Barwick returned to the marriage office to watch the first same-sex couples in Washington State receive marriage licenses.

Caption information source: "The road to same-sex marriage in Washington," The Seattle Times, February 14, 2012, p. A6.
Caption information source: "John Singer and Paul Barwick are denied a marriage license in Seattle on September 20, 1971," by Alan J. Stein, HistoryLink.org Essay 10262,