Prop 8 plaintiffs renew vows in Beverly Hills

BEVERLY HILLS (KABC) -- A star-studded celebration was held Saturday in Beverly Hills, marking one year since California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage was overturned.

Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo's five-year fight in the courts helped legalize same sex marriage for all Californians. On Saturday, the Burbank couple renewed their wedding vows at the Beverly Hilton in front of family, friends and some of Hollywood's elite.

"It means to the world that the language of marriage is important, that the rights are important," Katami said.

"This wasn't something we were trying to win for ourselves, we were trying to win the right to marry and the right for full federal recognition for thousands of thousands of gay and lesbian couples," Zarrillo said.

The pair were part of the forefront of California's gay-marriage movement. Eyewitness News first met Paul and Jeff in Washington D.C. last year inside the Supreme Court hearing on Proposition 8.

The two later celebrated the court's ruling in West Hollywood and married on the steps of L.A. City Hall last June. The ceremony was officiated by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Their attorneys, Ted Olson and David Boies, officiated the ceremony Saturday. The two once squared off in the Bush Vs. Gore Supreme Court case, but say coming together on this case is the most meaningful work they've ever done.

"It makes you feel so much more that America is coming closer and closer to its ideals," Boies said.

"We believe that the Supreme Court will make a decision probably within a year or 2 that says that everyone should be treated equally under this constitution," Olson said.

At last year's impromptu wedding, Paul and Jeff had no family present.

During Saturday's ceremony, they joined their friends, family, activists and some A-list celebrities who are all committed to the same cause.

"If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be able to get married next year either, you know, it's very meaningful for us to be here," singer and activist Lance Bass.

"It's the civil rights issue of our time. It's the last big piece of the civil rights puzzle being put into place," said actor and activist Rob Reiner.