FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACTS:

• Elizabeth Riel elizabeth@afer.org
• Manny Rivera manny@afer.org
• AFER Office 323.892.2081 

Plaintiffs Who Successfully Challenged Proposition 8 Before the U.S. Supreme Court are First to Marry 

San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA – Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay of the historic Federal District Court decision that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional.  With marriage equality now restored in California, the Plaintiffs who successfully challenged California’s Proposition 8 in Hollingsworth v. Perry were married.

Plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, California were married at City Hall in San Francisco.  They were the first gay or lesbian couple to be married in California post-Proposition 8.  California Attorney General Kamala Harris officiated.  Perry and Stier’s son Elliott Perry served as a witness.  The ceremony was followed by a press conference at City Hall featuring Perry and Stier, AFER co-founder Chad Griffin, and AFER executive director Adam Umhoefer.

Plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank, California will be married at City Hall in Los Angeles.  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will officiate.  Katami and Zarrillo’s best friends, Scott Jones and Devin Swanson of South Pasadena, California, will serve as witnesses.

The weddings took place just two days after the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry that restores marriage equality to California.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) is the sole sponsor of Hollingsworth v. Perry, the landmark federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8.  It is the first case involving the fundamental right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry ever to be fully briefed and argued before the Supreme Court.

“On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that gay and lesbian Californians are equal under the law and can once again marry the person they love.  Today, Sandy and I realized that promise of equality, as we stand here united in marriage,” said Plaintiff Kris Perry.  “We look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.  Yet we will never forget this day—the day the freedom to marry was restored to our home state.”

“This week, our nation’s High Court said that I am more equal, that we are more equal, that our love is just like our parents and grandparents, and that any children that we may have will be equal, too,” said Plaintiff Jeff Zarrillo.  “I love Paul more than anything else in the world, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him.  This is the happiest day of our lives.”

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• Read the Ninth Circuit’s Order >
• Read the Supreme Court’s Decision >
• Read the Federal District Court’s Decision > 

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About the American Foundation for Equal Rights

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) is the sole sponsor of Hollingsworth v. Perry, the landmark federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8.  After bringing together bipartisan attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies to lead its legal team, AFER successfully advanced the Perry case through Federal District Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. The Perry case is the first involving the fundamental right of gay and lesbian couples to marry ever to be fully briefed and argued before the Supreme Court.  The Foundation is committed to achieving full federal marriage equality. www.afer.org