California Legalizes Gay Marriage this Week

June 15, 2008 -- David and Jeff Janis-Kitzmiller met more than seven years ago and, like many other couples, fell in love.

Though they registered as domestic partners in 2001, the couple wanted to get married.

"It affirms our relationship," Jeff told "Good Morning America." "It makes clear to other people that he's not my business partner -- he's my husband."

San Francisco allowed same-sex couples to be legally married on Valentines' Day in February 2004.

Active in the gay community, David and Jeff said they stood in line for six hours on February 15, 2004, to get married. But six months later, a California court voided all the same-sex weddings, saying the legal definition of a marriage was between a man and a woman.

The couple was never able to celebrate their first anniversary and one slice of wedding cake still sits in their freezer.

Last month, California's Supreme Court made same-sex marriages legal again when it struck down the state's ban.

David and Jeff quickly began planning their second wedding, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

"The next one we get should be a legal and a keeper," David said.

Like any engaged couple, they have a long "to-do" list, with tuxedo fittings, picking out boutonnieres and shining their rings.

"It's kind of fun because planning this wedding, getting to do all this, you get to fall in love all over again," said David, a controller for an aviation firm.

Since the ruling, many same-sex couples are frantically planning their nuptials. And California's wedding industry is expecting a big boom in business by couples rushing to the alter.

David's parents have been prepping for a wedding brunch, with the theme "love is a gift,"

"And even if the Supreme Court or the California voters or anybody changes this occasion, we are still celebrating love. And you don't have to take that back," said David's mother, Kay Janis.

"Our love is just like anyone else's. The love that they feel for their spouse -- that's the same type of love that we have," said Jeff, a quality assurance manager for a financial software provider.

"It's just about love and equality," David said. "We're not trying to have anything different than what every other Californian is able to get as part of their rights under the constitution."

And this Tuesday, these two men say they will get their wish to make their union legal -- this time, they hope, for good.