What will Prop. 8 mean to California's 11,000 wedded gay couples

An estimated 11,000 couples have wed since the California Supreme Court ruled in May that same-sex marriages are legal.Less than two weeks before the election, it's not clear what happens to them if California voters approve Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. Would the marriages carried out before Proposition 8 still be legal?"I wake up in the morning thinking about it, and it's still on my mind when I go to bed at night," said Dru Richie, 53, who is among the newly married. At times, she said, she feels sick to her stomach with the stress. Richie and her spouse, Robin, exchanged vows at the Placer County Courthouse on June 17, the first day same-sex couples were able to wed legally in California.In the months since, they've settled into what they call a traditional untraditional life in Rocklin, with two children, three dogs and two birds."The people who support the ban can go on with their lives the next day," said Robin Richie, 50. "Ours could be turned upside down."Polls have shown the ban losing, but experts believe the contest will be close. If the measure succeeds, same-sex unions would become illegal the day after the election.What becomes of the marriages conducted before Nov. 5 if Proposition 8 passes is a matter of legal debate. Many scholars believe they would remain valid."I can think of no other state where this right has been taken away retroactively. It would be extraordinary if it happened," said Larry Levine, who teaches at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge Law School and is currently a visiting professor at New York Law School.Even experts who support Proposition 8 agree. "The hard-core, straight truth is that they will likely not be invalidated," said Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative-leaning legal defense organization.Others suggest the marriages are vulnerable."My view is that they will be invalidated," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a litigation, education and policy organization which opposed the court's ruling.The bottom line, said Levine, is that this is uncharted territory. "No one really knows what's going to happen."And that has caused "a level of anxiety that can't be underestimated in the community," said Courtney Joslin, professor of law at University of California, Davis.Some supporters of Proposition 8 say the state Supreme Court created the anxiety by refusing to delay the date its ruling became effective until after the election.The uncertainty has rallied opponents of Proposition 8, with the No campaign seeing a boost in fundraising in recent weeks. The California Teachers Association, for example, last week donated $1 million to defeat the initiative.Still, the mood among many opponents is grim."I'm losing sleep over this, as are a lot of people I know," said Lori Hahn, a Sacramento blogger who is joining seven other lesbian bloggers for "8 on 8" - an effort to raise $8,000 over eight days for No on Proposition 8.Hahn, mother of three, is not married and does not have plans to wed. For her, it is an issue of equality."To know I have neighbors who don't think I deserve the same rights they have, makes me ill," she said.Robin and Dru Richie say their relationship has not been an issue with neighbors. "Frankly, I don't think anyone cares," said Dru Richie.They wed at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Auburn in November - a union recognized by the church but not the state. They were thrilled to marry again in June after same-sex marriages became legal."It was a great day for our family," said James Richie, 17, Robin's son from a previous relationship. Framed pictures of the wedding day - including one of a beaming Dru jumping into Robin's open arms - line the dining room walls.Marriage "defines our relationship," said Robin Richie. "Everybody knows what it is. There's no explaining to do, it's clear."She does not like the term domestic partner. "It makes me sound like I have a contractual agreement with my housekeeper."The family's spacious house looks like many others in the neighborhood, with one exception - theirs is the only one on the block with a "No on Prop. 8" lawn sign.The couple say some signs they put up in the area have been removed. Both opponents and supporters of Prop. 8 claim signs have been vandalized."Obviously, people are pretty passionate about this issue," Robin Richie said.If the initiative passes, couples such as the Richies could become what professor Levine calls "a little club that nobody else will be allowed to join."Whatever happens, the Richies say, they'll face it together."Our lives will go on," said Robin Richie. "Because to us, we're married."E-mail Jennifer Garza at jgarza(at)sacbee.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)