 I'm the executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and I am so thrilled to be here today on this historic day for Virginia. I'm here with the plaintiffs in the Boston P. Rainey case, which, as you know, was just decided late last night in the district court here in Norfolk, a resounding win for equality. Since the beginning of our country, Virginians have led the way when it comes to freedom and equality. It was Thomas Jefferson who first wrote of the self-evident truce that all men are created equal and that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights. It was James Madison who, as the father of the Constitution, guaranteed those rights to every American. Centuries later it was Mildred and Richard Loving who went to the Supreme Court of the United States and demanded an end to the unjust laws that dared to tell us who we could and could not love. And it was in the Loving case that the Supreme Court held that marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man and that the freedom to marry resides with an individual and cannot be infringed by the state. Today we once again stand on the tall shoulders of those who came before us and we celebrate the first victory for marriage equality in the American South. And today we have four more Virginians at the vanguard of freedom. Tim Bostic, Tony London, Carol Shaw, and Mary Townley stood for thousands of couples across Virginia and just as Richard and Mildred Loving did demanded an end to state sponsored discrimination and today they had their freedom to marry affirmed. Forty-five years Virginia has been for lovers but until today not every Virginian had the freedom to dedicate their life to the person they love. Today in places like Birmingham and Biloxi, Chattanooga and Charleston gay and lesbian couples know that equality isn't just something that happens up north. Today a gay teenager in Roanoke, a kid who watched the dark walls of discrimination crumble in places like New York and California and Massachusetts and wondered when will it happen here? It doesn't have to wonder anymore. Pride for some is not equality for all. That's what Richard and Mildred Loving believed. That's what Thomas Jefferson believed. That's what a majority of Americans believe today. There's still work to be done. There are still fights to be fought. A stay remains in place and we expect we'll have to wait to hear from the Fourth Circuit before any couples here can get married. But today we are more American than we were yesterday. And today we're a little more equal than we were the day before. Let's introduce to you the plaintiffs in Bostic Re-raining. Tim and Tony. I'm Ms. Tim Bostic and I'm one of the plaintiffs challenging Virginia's marriage amendment. My partner of 24 years, Tony London and I are thrilled by the court's decision that strike down Virginia's discriminatory marriage laws. We filed this suit because although we've been together for more than two decades we want our relationship to be recognized just like everyone else's. We want to be married. And it's important to us that as Virginians we get married in the state that we love and the state that we've called home for so long. Today, thanks to Judge Allen, we are one step closer to that reality. We thank the court for its careful consideration of our case. And I would like to remind all of you just what the judge did for us today by quoting from her decision. Almost 150 years ago, as Abraham Lincoln approached the cataclysmic rending of our nation over a struggle for other freedoms, a rending that would take his life in the lives of hundreds of thousands of others, he wrote these words. It cannot have failed to strike you that these men ask for just the same thing. Fairness and fairness only. This so far, as it is in my power, they and all others should have. The men and women and the children too, whose voices join in noble harmony with plaintiffs today, also ask for fairness only. This, so far as it is this court's power, they and all others shall have. Thank you. I'm honored to follow that. My name is Tony London and my partner of 24 years, Tim, and I are very, very glad to have been able to be out here and put some of the face on it with everyone else so that we could get in front of everyone and we could make this happen. But it could not have happened without support. And I just want to say that to everybody, to the attorneys, to everybody and the support of all of our friends, thank you so very much. Thank you so very much. Good morning. Thank you all for coming here. My name is Mary Townley and I'm here with my partner of nearly 30 years, Carol. We're extremely grateful for the court's ruling that has struck down Virginia's discriminatory marriage laws. Not only is yesterday's decision by the court important for us as a couple, but it means even more for us as parents. Our 16-year-old daughter, Emily, the light of our lives. As parents, we want the best for our daughter and know what it means to the world to her and our family will be treated just like every other family. We thank the court for its careful consideration of our case and the positive impact it will have on loving couples and families across Virginia. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day. My name is Carol Shawl and like my partner Mary said, we want the very best for our wonderful daughter, Emily. I have never been more grateful as a mother than I am today, knowing that our family will be recognized as one that is just as real and legitimate and ordinary as every other family in Virginia. We thank Judge Allen for reviewing our case fairly and I hope that soon, gay and lesbian couples and their families in every state across our great country will be able to experience the happiness and relief we feel today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I also would like to acknowledge our legal team headed by Ted Olson and David Boyce who couldn't be here today but will be joining a conference call following this press availability. And then also we do have with us Tom Shuddleworth and Bob Ruloff who I invite up to make a few remarks and then we'll take some questions. Well, I guess this is a Valentine's Day that we'll all remember. Yay! Today is about courage and speaking up. Martin Luther King said, we begin to lose our lives. The day we begin, the day we do not speak up for things that matter. Not only did Tony and Tim, Carol and Mary speak up, they stood up. That's why we're here. And we will continue to stand up. We will continue to walk and we will continue to march all the way through the court system so everyone in this entire country can celebrate like we're doing today. Parties who really deserve this day for themselves, it's been an honor to represent them so far. We look forward to doing that in the first circuit in the street board. It couldn't be nicer people. It couldn't be more deserving of being able to be treated equally. But even if they weren't any of all those things, they deserve to be treated like everybody else. Thank you. We have time for a few questions. You mentioned that there's still fights to be fought. There's still work to be done. Talk about that next step. What's next? What do you guys have in front of you here? Well, I expect our opponents will appeal the decision to the fourth circuit so that the immediate fight will be there and presumably the fight will continue on beyond the fourth circuit to the Supreme Court. Do you expect this day to continue beyond the fourth circuit as well? I would actually defer to our legal counsel on that one. It's hard to look into the future. We're lawyers, not seers. I anticipate though that somebody's going to appeal to the fourth circuit and somebody's going to appeal to the Supreme Court. Somebody's not going to like what the fourth circuit does, just like somebody that likes the way it is. The Allen did all the wrong edits. And I imagine when the fourth circuit rules will be somebody who takes issue with it. So that's kind of a long-winded answer. The rest of you just say yes. So it could be a matter of what, a couple of years before Timothy, Tony, and Carol married? Yes. Could you also talk about how this is only gaining momentum for the same-sex marriage across the South? Well, I think today's victory is huge and that it's the first, but we're seeing across the country victory after victory in the court system, in the state houses, and even at the ballot box. A majority of Americans support the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian citizens. And the laws are quickly going to catch up with the American opinion. Could even a local couple in the case speak about how frustrating it is to still not be able to get married because the judge issues stay in the case? I don't think we're not frustrated by it. I think because the attorneys helped us understand that that was probably what was going to happen because of what happened in Utah. But I will say that if any of you have not read the judge's decision, I would beseech you to read it because she gets it. She understands why we're doing this and how important this is to us. And anyone that believes in the ideals upon which this country was founded can't help but understand where we're coming from as American citizens. Thank you. As I point out the obvious here, what does it mean for you all or doesn't have significant special meaning that it is Valentine's Day? Well, it absolutely does for us. I mean, the saying here is Virginia is for lovers. And truly we are experiencing that today in a way that we never have before. We're elated by that. Mary and I also value this week because this is actually the week of our anniversary. And so on Monday we celebrated 29 years. We're in our 30th year now and we are just delighted to share this with everyone. I think Valentine from here on out in Virginia will be a very special day for all of us. Can you maybe sum up the technicalities of this decision and what it means for those people who may be confused and think, why can't people still get married here in Virginia? Yes. It's a considered decision and it really makes sense because if there wasn't a stage there would be actions taken in reliance of the law and the rulings of Judge Allen which while we don't think are going to be overturned they could be and it would create havoc for during that period of time for all the actions that people would have gotten married in reliance on the fact that the law was constitutional the new law was constitutional and the Judge Allen was right and the unlikely event that that turned out to be false all of that would have to be done in changes in positions in legal waters just create havoc and so I think everybody wishes that that wouldn't be here but it's necessary and I hope that answers your question. Thank you so much all for coming out this morning. Again this entire team will be available on a conference call at 11.30 Eastern Time along with Ted Olson and David Boyce thank you again a great day for Virginia. Thank you.