Gay Couple Who Married Has Personal Stake In Gay Union Debate

ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY - Louis Navarrete and Ric Best never wanted to be pioneers. They loved each other, and they wanted to make it official.
On March 8, 2004, in Asbury Park, N.J., they did. It was the first same-sex marriage in the history of New Jersey, and it put Asbury Park into the vanguard of gay-friendly cities testing the waters of same-sex marriage.
The honeymoon didn't last long. Within hours, state Attorney General Peter Harvey proclaimed the ceremony invalid and went to court to bar the city from issuing more licenses.
Nearly two years later, the couple await the outcome of a New Jersey Supreme Court case they hope will make their union legally binding _ even though they contend it already is. Known as Lewis v. Harris, the case was brought by seven same-sex couples who say the state is violating its own Constitution by denying them marriage licenses. It was heard Wednesday; a decision is not expected for months.
Though they aren't legally parties to the case, Navarrete, a 44-year-old interior designer, and Best, a 46-year-old artist, have a stake nonetheless.
"We're hopeful and confident the Supreme Court is going to do the right thing," said Navarrete. "If you read the Constitution, it says everybody should be treated equally. So this is no issue."
The two had been together for 15 years when they got the idea to wed.
Best was watching Ellen Degeneres' talk show on television one day when the news broke in with a report about President George W. Bush announcing plans to seek a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"It angered me, and when Louis came home, I said, 'Let's get a license,"' said Best.
They went down to City Hall, paid $28 for a marriage license and waited the requisite 72 hours.
With Deputy Mayor James Bruno officiating and a dozen friends as witnesses, they tied the knot in a City Hall conference room ceremony that was untraditional, to say the least.
"When Jimmy Bruno got to that point in the ceremony, he said, 'I now pronounce you ...' and he didn't know what to say, and someone said, 'married,"' Best recalled.
"It was a lot of fun," said Navarrete. "There were parts that were a little goofy. We went to a little gay bar afterward, we figured nobody would look for us there."
Word spread quickly. The next morning, couples were flocking to the shore town where Bruce Springsteen got his start to obtain their licenses. Sixteen were issued before the state intervened.
For Best and Navarrete, the little wedding quickly turned into something else. Overnight, they became folk heroes in New Jersey's gay rights movement.
"Ric and Louis' marriage was a major milestone in the marriage equality movement in New Jersey," said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a lesbian and gay rights group. "What it did was send a signal of just how hungry lesbian and gay couples are for equality in this state and across the nation."
"Saturday Night Live" made jokes about the wedding. The couple received letters and telephone calls expressing support, some from people they didn't know.
The feedback wasn't all positive. After Bush won re-election later that year, some gay people blamed them, saying the gay marriage issue _ and the couple's part in it _ contributed to the victory, Best said.
Their marriage, Navarrete and Best say, is not unlike traditional ones. Working side by side at Navarrete's design studio, they live a mundane life _ paying bills, sharing responsibilities (Best cleans, Navarrete cooks) and enduring the occasional spat.
"We get on each other's nerves, like any other couple," Best said.
Best would like to adopt a child; Navarrete _ who says he has no maternal instincts _ doesn't want to.
Their disputed marriage license, meanwhile, sits in a storage box in their three-bedroom Center City apartment. To them, it's proof positive that they're married, no matter what.
"We had a ceremony," Navarrete said. "We were there. You guys are here writing about it. It must have happened."
Not as far as the state of New Jersey is concerned.
"In the state's eyes, they are not considered to be legally married," said Frederick Raffetto, the city of Asbury Park's lawyer in the case. "I'm sure they consider themselves a married couple, and the city of Asbury Park is in support of that and considers them to be. But the state is the final arbiter."
Lee Moore, a spokesman for state Attorney General Zulima Farber, said the state registrar of vital statistics rejected the couple's license when it was filed and that the marriage is void.
"Mr. Navarrete and Mr. Best filed an appeal of the registrar's decision to reject the license, and the appeal is essentially on hold pending the Lewis v. Harris decision" in the Supreme Court case, he said.
from Newsday