Prop. 8 plaintiff Paul Katami’s tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner: “They stood with us in court for 4.5 years”

Paul Katami and husband Jeff Zarrillo were two of the lead plaintiffs in the landmark case that ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Katami has penned this tribute on Instagram:

We are heartbroken and still trying to understand how to hold the presence of Rob and Michelle Reiner. They are all Love.

To the world, they are icons..brilliant, courageous, creative forces who shape culture, comedy, storytelling, and the very idea of what speaking up for equality looks like in America.

To us, they are family.

They opened their home to us. Their table. Their lives.

They became our chosen family inviting us in, standing beside us, and being among the very first people to support us and help set us on the path of a federal lawsuit that changes millions of lives. They didn’t just support marriage equality..they lived their values, loudly and lovingly.

They stood with us in court for 4.5 years.

We sat at the table in their home many times.

And because of them, they were able to sit at our table, at our wedding, on a day and in a moment that would not exist without their belief in who we are and how we love. That memory, that joy, that freedom is inseparable from their courage and support.

They are brave. They are funny. They are generous. They are deeply human.

And they make everyone around them feel seen, protected, and encouraged to be more fully themselves.

One moment I will never forget happened around their dinner table. Michelle calls out her house rule…one I carry with me to this day:

“While we’re all together at this table, there can only be one conversation at a time.”

So the person speaking can be heard.

So no one is left out.

So attention, respect, and presence are shared by everyone at the table.

It is such a simple act.

And such a powerful expression of who they are.

Their love, their courage, their creativity, their outspoken belief in freedom, equality, and love live on in the work they inspire, the lives they touch, and in all of us who are lucky enough to have sat at their table.

We will never forget you.

Thank you for choosing us, believing in us, and loving us the way you do.

Your legacy is not just what you create…but how you show up for others.