Laura Gersony Arizona Republic | USA TODAY NETWORK
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
“Sitting side-by-side at their kitchen table in Tempe, Joe Connolly and Terry Pochert
launched into one of their favorite stories. It’s one they’ve told reporters before — “the onion ring story” — how, when marriage wasn’t an option, they swapped fried snacks at a diner instead. “That’s about when we decided to move to Arizona,” Pochert said. “No, no, no,” interrupted Connolly. “You had your condo. I was in Ann Arbor. And then I moved into your place.”
They stared at each other, quizzically, for a moment.
“And then when you thought about retiring, that’s when we — it was, like, ’96 or ’97,”
Connolly reminded him.
“Oh, now we’re having a fight,” Pochert joked.
They laughed. Before they were considered partners in the eyes of the state of
Arizona, Connolly and Pochert were plaintiffs. The couple made history in 2014 as
one of the couples whose lawsuit opened the door to same-sex marriage in Arizona,
months before it was legalized nationwide in the June 26, 2015, Supreme Court
decision, Obergefell v. Hodges.
Ten years down the line, they are, in Pochert’s words, “ordinary.” Their romantic
history is long and storied enough that they, affectionately, quibbled over the details.
They’ve settled into an apartment in a retirement home in Tempe. They make the
beds, they do the shopping. A simple cross is mounted at the side of the door.
Downstairs, photos of them, arms around each other, are featured in the retirement
home’s Pride Month display.”
References:
- Arizona Republic – June 25, 2025 – Fearful (PDF)
- AZCentral Online – As legal same-sex marriage turns 10 in US, LGBTQ+ Arizonans celebrate, but fear a backlash
- The Detroit Free Press, June 23, 2025 – In Front of Paywall
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