Senior Moment: 5 Trailblazing LGBT Elders

From: NewNowNext

Jim Darby

81

and 

Patrick Bova

76

Another Chicago couple, Jim Darby and Patrick Bova, also took advantage of Illinois new marriage-equality law—51 years after they met.

The lead plaintiffs in Lambda Legal’s challenge to the state’s marriage equality ban, the two were among a dozen couples who wed at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Monday, June 2, 2014.

Darby, a veteran of the Korean War, didn’t expect to live to see his wedding day: ”I did not think this would ever come,” he told The Huffington Post. “I was involved with the gay veterans for 20 years and it seemed like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell would never come to an end. And when it did, it came so fast we were almost caught by surprise.”

Darby and Bova met at a cruising ground in Hyde Park July 17, 1963.

“I was walking to the beach and I saw this tall handsome guy walking down the street reading a book,” recalls Darby. “While he was walking. And I whistled at him! My friend panicked and said, ‘We don’t whistle at guys on the South Side!’ But I didn’t give a shit.”

By September the two had moved in together.

In addition to building a life together, they remained dedicated activists, especially in the fight for gays in the military. (Darby was arrested at a White House protest against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 1993.)

In recent years, the two traveled repeatedly to Springfield to lobby for marriage equality, speaking with lawmakers and press outlets about their unique story.

“What I often say is that when Jim enters the room, it doesn't matter if it’s with a group of people or even in the morning when he comes down for coffee, he brightens the room,” said Bova. “He lightens it and brightens it and brings the atmosphere alive… He’s a catalyst for happiness.”