American Foundation for Equal Rights

LA Weekly: Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo: They Fought Prop. 8, and Everyone Won

Lina Aghajanian of LA Weekly profiles Paul and Jeff, plaintiffs in Perry v. Hollingsworth:

Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo remember the exact moment when they decided enough was enough.

It was 2009, and California’s same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8, had passed. The National Organization for Marriage, a nonprofit formed to push for such bans, had launched an ad called “Gathering Storm.” It featured actors in front of a dark, thundery backdrop, speaking about how gay marriage would negatively affect their lives.

Katami and Zarrillo had never been terribly political. With jobs in the entertainment and fitness industries, the longtime couple were foodies at heart who spent their free time exploring L.A.’s restaurant scene, sating their voracious sweet tooths. There probably wasn’t a cupcakery in the city they hadn’t visited.

But the ad was an insult too far.

“I stood up off the couch and I said, ‘That’s it,’ ” Katami says. “ ’We have to do something.’ ”

Read the full story here: