Richard Adams, one half of the first gay couple to file a marriage equality lawsuit against the federal government, died on Monday at age 65. Adams and his Australian-born partner Tony Sullivan were legally wed in Colorado by a Boulder city clerk in 1975. When Adams filed a petition with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to make Sullivan a permanent resident as a spouse of a U.S. citizen, the couple was denied because the federal governemnt did not recognize their marriage.
Shortly after, the couple filed a federal lawsuit, Adams v. Howerton, calling for their marriage to be recognized. Though they did not with their case, Adams and Sullivan were relieved when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would avoid deportation in the cases of binational same-sex couples. Throughout his life, Adams worked to advocate for LGBT equality and was involved with efforts to end apartheid, nuclear war, and the United States' intervention in Central America. Adams and Sullivan are featrued in the documentary, Limited Partnership, which tells of their life as a binational couple advocating for equality. You can watch the trailer below.