Paul Barwick

Paul Barwick (born 1946) is an American former LGBT rights activist and same-sex marriage pioneer. In 1971, he filed one of the first lawsuits in the history of the United States regarding the right of gays and lesbians to marry, after he and fellow activist John Singer were denied a civil marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle, Washington. The case, Singer v. Hara, was the best-known gay marriage case in the state of Washington until Andersen v. King County in 2006.

Born in Washington, Barwick served three years in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, working as a military policeman. Later, he became an emergency dispatcher for the Washington State Patrol, and attended Olympic College in Bremerton. He currently lives in San Francisco, California, his residence for the last 30 years.