Gay, Catholic, American: My Legal Battle for Marriage Equality and Inclusion

Bourke, one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage, shares his story of activism and devout Catholicism in this detailed but unexceptional debut. Bourke, who comes out in 1982 after meeting his partner Michael De Leon while a student at the University of Kentucky, is accepted fully by his family and local Catholic leaders. Following a move for job prospects to Connecticut, Bourke and De Leon return to Kentucky, adopt two children, and cobble together complicated and tenuous legal protections for their relationship. The family also engages deeply with their local Catholic community. After traveling to Canada to be married, Bourke and De Leon join the legal fight to have their marriage recognized. Bourke simultaneously copes with and fights against his forcible removal as a Boy Scout leader for being a gay man. He details all the circuitous legal moves of their case, providing both easy-to-follow explanations and his intense emotional reactions—though the well-known outcome blunts some of the drama. Bourke’s smooth, tidy narrative of activism pulls back the curtain on one of the most influential Supreme Court cases of modern American history. (Sept.)