It’s hard
to imagine two more all-American boys than Brian Laswell,
34, and Andrew Farris, 36. Together a dozen years,
they first met in Indiana when a mutual friend
introduced them. They were each other’s first
relationship.
Married: June 18,
2008
Together: 12 years
It’s hard
to imagine two more all-American boys than Brian Laswell,
34, and Andrew Farris, 36. Together a dozen years,
they first met in Indiana when a mutual friend
introduced them. They were each other’s first
relationship. “We moved to Los Angeles 10 years ago
just to try something new,” Farris explains.
“We love it!”
Laswell calls
Farris the “easygoing-est, most laid-back person you
could ever meet. People always ask if we fight. I say,
‘I fight, and he asks why I’m yelling at
him. Then he tells me to calm down, and that makes me
even more mad.’ ” The two didn’t feel
the need to marry, but as a committed couple they were
determined to take advantage of every legal right
available to them. That’s how they wound up waiting
anxiously on May 15 for the California supreme
court’s decision to come down. The moment they
heard the good news, they went to buy engagement rings.
“Each ring
has six diamonds,” Farris explains as he presents
his, “because together we have 12
years.” But it took a day after the emotional
outdoor celebration in West Hollywood—with speeches,
wedding cake, and tears—for the idea of
marriage to set in, Laswell says. “Girls grow
up thinking of their weddings. I never thought of my
own!”
Though they
arrived in West Hollywood Park too late to be married on
June 17, they were first in line to say their vows the
next morning. To celebrate, the couple pulled out all
the stops and headed for Las Vegas.
“We got a
cute little package with a hotel room, and all our friends
came and rented tuxes, and we had the reception at the
hotel, and limousines, and it was really fun,”
Laswell says. “We wanted it to be a real wedding
with all the extras that a straight couple would
have,” Farris explains. And it was. It’s
all there in the photo album on the coffee table in the
couple’s apartment.
Now life is back
to normal, and Farris says it’s clear that marriage
is worth fighting for. “This is that special
time in history to make advancements for gays and
lesbians and other minorities. Times are changing.
Things are moving in a positive direction, and it’s
going to be hard to stop it.”
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