Kris Perry’s hometown paper the Bakersfield Californian featured the Prop. 8 plaintiff and her wife one month after the Supreme Court victory that enabled gay and lesbian couples to get married in California.

“When this all first started, I thought our names might appear in some obscure legal brief and that would be the end of it,” Perry said.

Hardly. They’ve been featured prominently in international news coverage of the case.

The couple wasn’t always so visible. In fact, they would have preferred that someone else champion the cause. When the case was filed four years ago, three of their four children were teenagers and they didn’t want to subject the youngsters to scrutiny or scorn.

But same-sex marriage advocates needed public faces for their challenge, particularly stable, loving couples who could show the human side of the issue.

Gradually, Perry and Stier eased into the role of activists, granting interviews, allowing access to a documentary film crew and speaking at fundraisers.

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