Love
Stories: Brian Laswell and Andrew Farris

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."