Obama’s SOTU guest list includes gay rights activist, Mexican immigrant, Syrian refugee

Dylan Stableford

As President Obama delivers his final State of the Union on Tuesday night, 23 people who “represent the progress” and “personify” his time in office will be seated in first lady Michelle Obama’s box, the White House announced on Sunday. Among them: a gay rights activist, a Syrian refugee and a Mexican immigrant.

Refaai Hamo, who fled Syria after a bombing killed seven of his family members, received refugee status and was resettled in Troy, Mich., last month, the White House said.

“Welcome to your new home,” President Obama wrote to Hamo after reading about his story online. “You’re part of what makes America great.”

Joining Hamo will be Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality case that gave same-sex couples nationwide the right to marry. Obergefell’s 2013 marriage to his dying partner — performed in Maryland — wasn’t recognized in his home state of Ohio, setting up a legal battle that found its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor last year.

image

President Obama delivers his State of the Union address, Jan. 20, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

“Jim considers himself an accidental activist, one who became entwined in a political statement larger than himself — a statement of equality and dignity that Americans have been fighting for since this nation’s founding,” the White House said. “And he now remains committed to ensuring the civil rights for all Americans.”

Oscar Vazquez, a Mexican immigrant who lived for nearly a decade in Phoenix illegally before being granted a green card and enlisting in the Army, will also be seated in the box. Vazquez, who served one tour in Afghanistan, is now “a proud U.S. citizen,” the White House said, and an advocate for “opportunities for Latino and other under-represented youth.”

Spencer Stone, the U.S. Air Force sergeant who helped halt a gunman’s planned attack on a Paris-bound train in August — and survived a stabbing outside a Sacramento, Calif., bar in October — is also among Obama’s State of the Union guests.

Others include military veterans, college students, small business owners, community advocates and activists, and even a governor: Connecticut’s Dannel P. Malloy, who has become a key figure in the president’s push for stricter gun laws since the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

There will be one empty seat in the first lady’s box Tuesday night, its vacancy intentional:

We leave one seat empty in the First Lady’s State of the Union Guest Box for the victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice — because they need the rest of us to speak for them. To tell their stories. To honor their memory. To support the Americans whose lives have been forever changed by the terrible ripple effect of gun violence — survivors who’ve had to learn to live with a disability, or without the love of their life. To remind every single one of our representatives that it’s their responsibility to do something about this.


The guests will be seated alongside the first lady, Jill Biden and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. All of the invitees “represent who we are as Americans: inclusive and compassionate, innovative and courageous,” the White House said.

Below, the full guest list:

• A vacant seat for the victims of gun violence

• Sue Ellen Allen (Scottsdale, Ariz.), criminal justice reform

• Gloria Balenski (Schaumburg, Ill.), letter writer

• Jennifer Bragdon (Austin, Texas), community college student

• Edith Childs (Greenwood, S.C.), Greenwood County Council member

• Cynthia “Cindy” K. Dias (Las Vegas) veteran, veterans homelessness advocate

• Mark Davis (Washington, D.C.), small business owner

• Cary Dixon (Huntington, W. Va.) mother, opioid reform advocate

• Lydia Doza (Klamath Falls, Ore.; Anchorage, Alaska), college student, STEM advocate

• Refaai Hamo (Troy, Mich.), Syrian refugee

• Lisa Jaster (Houston), major, U.S. Army Reserve, Ranger School graduate

• Mayor Mark Luttrell (Shelby County, Tenn.)

• Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy

• Braeden Mannering (Bear, Del.), Let’s Move!

• Satya Nadella (Bellevue, Wash.), Microsoft CEO

• Jim Obergefell (Cincinnati), activist

• Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole

• Ryan Reyes (San Bernardino, Calif.), activist

• Ronna Rice (Greeley, Colo.), small business owner

• Cedric Rowland (Chicago), ACA navigator

• Naveed Shah (Springfield, Va.), U.S. Army veteran

• Earl Smith (Austin, Texas), veteran

• Spencer Stone (Sacramento, Calif.), staff sergeant, U.S. Air Force

• Oscar Vazquez (Fort Worth, Texas), veteran, DREAMer, STEM leader

Watch the State of the Union right here. Coverage and commentary hosted by Katie Couric begins at 8:45 pm Eastern.