Now that you're legally married, what are the legal differences that you expect in your life?

Toby: First of all, we have to be realistic and say that there are already people trying to get an injunction -- I don't know if they'll succeed, but they could potentially overturn this on Tuesday. If it doesn't get turned back, one of the things that's really important to me is the opportunity with a legal marriage certificate from the state to be able to fight for our federal rights. Like next year, when we do our taxes Jean and I can file jointly, which if Jean is staying home with Kalen it makes a lot more sense to file as a married couple. To be able to go to the IRS and say, "Listen, we're married and we get the marriage rights. We shouldn't be taxed on health insurance benefits, and Jean should be able to get Social Security benefits, and these are really, really important to our family." But also just to be able to say we're really married! Just like anybody else, we're really married. We're in the process of filling out paperwork for a stepparent adoption, which in California we can do, but now we're the same as other married couples. Jean is Kalen's stepparent.

I was very surprised that San Francisco did it before Massachusetts. I have family in Massachusetts and we were seriously considering going there ... As far as we're concerned we got married in July, but we need the civil rights, and so, the sooner the better! The sooner the better.

Do you think this will be a deciding issue in the 2004 election? There are some people who think it's more pragmatic to wait on the issue of same-sex marriage rights until after the vote.

Toby: I'm not a politician, but the bottom line is that we deserve to get married. I know that I'll vote for somebody who's going to uphold those rights. So yeah, I think we should make it an issue, because it is an issue. You can't make it not be an issue. And Bush is making a fool of himself. He could have left well enough alone and he probably would have done better. I mean, he's backing a constitutional amendment that the majority of Americans don't want, and that's fine! He's digging himself a hole and I'll be happy to have him dig himself a hole.

But I don't know, somebody who gets paid millions of dollars to do polls could probably answer that better than I could.

Jean: This kind of surprise thing the mayor did was kind of radical politics, but it was gutsy. I liked it. As far as whether or not it will hurt our politics in the future, I don't know. I don't think so.

Toby: I'm so happy he did what he did for us, but Gavin Newsom is not going to be elected president. But I don't think that by the mayor of San Francisco doing what he did and Jean and I getting married today, that that's going to hurt [John] Kerry's chances.

Jean: I think it's actually the opposite. This will mobilize the young voters who never vote, who are overwhelmingly pro for the marriage rights.

Toby: This is something whose time has come!

What would it feel like to be "unmarried" now, if any of the potential injunctions go through?

Toby: I would be just as frustrated as I've been all along. I don't know if it would feel worse -- I certainly hope not! -- but I'm trying to be realistic about it. We expect there to be a battle, but my intent is to get on the Web today or tomorrow and change Jean's status on my healthcare form from domestic partner to spouse and see what happens. My intent is to move forward and say we are married. We have a marriage certificate, and I have a right put "married" on official forms.

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