Woman plaintiff in gay marriage case details emotional ordeal of ban in California

Woman recalls emotional ordeal of gay marriage ban

SAN FRANCISCO — One of two lesbians suing California to overturn its ban on gay marriage says she and her partner have experienced an emotional roller coaster over the past six years with their desires to wed.

Kristen Perry testified Monday during the first day of the trial targeting Proposition 8, the voter-approved measure banning same-sex marriage.

The 45-year-old woman says she and her partner rushed to San Francisco in early 2004 to marry when that city opened City Hall to same-sex weddings.

Then they were crestfallen when the city — under court order — told them their marriage was invalid, and that it improperly conducted the ceremony before the courts considered the issue.

Perry says she wants to marry but the state “isn’t letting me feel happy.”

The case is the first federal trial on the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex marriage.