California couple fighting for marriage equality heads to US Supreme Court

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Matthew Mansell and John Espejo were wed in California, but when their jobs sent them to Tennessee, they discovered their marriage would no longer be recognized once they set foot across the state's boarder.

Though the couple was frustrated, they were able to joke about their predicament.

"It was traveling back from California from Tennessee, we'd go through these states and say, 'Oh, we're married. Oh, Texas, sorry Matt,'" Espejo said.

"'Yeah you're a stranger now,'" Mansell would say in response.

Mansell and Espejo have two children together, ages 7 and 8. Although Texas recognized both men as parents to their two children, they were legally deemed strangers to each other.

Now, they are looking to do something about it. The couple is headed to Washington D.C. this weekend, where the U.S. Supreme Court will hear their case on Tuesday.

A decision isn't expected until June. If they win, they will win for same-sex couples across the country whose marriages vanish the moment they cross certain state lines.

"It's great that if we can help other people who don't have the wherewithal to do something, they can actually then benefit from our being able to stand up and take a stand. That's how I want my children to remember this, (that) we spoke up for ourselves," Mansell said.