Va. same-sex couple celebrates historic Supreme Court ruling

For one Virginia couple, the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage is surreal.

"I always believed it would happen in my lifetime and I didn't know how fast," said Elizabeth Howton, who lives in Falls Church with her wife Nana. "I didn't believe it would happen this fast, but I strongly believed that it would happen."

However, Nana Howton, has a very different perspective.

"Unlike her, I did not believe this would happen in my lifetime," she said.

Nana's upbringing is just one of the reasons she said she never thought she would live to see this day.

"Even though we have legal marriage in Brazil, gay people, particularly men, transgender people are killed daily in the big cities," Nana said.

The pair met in 1990 at Stanford University and tied the knot in 1995 at their church. But the marriage wasn't legally recognized.

"And then California legalized marriage in 2008 briefly, and we married July 2, 2008. Then Prop 8 passed and it was not legal, but our marriage was still legal," Elizabeth explained how their marriage was grandfathered in.

Then they had two kids with the help of a donor, but also faced unique challenges along the way.

"We also had to do a second parent adoption just in case we moved to a state like Virginia, which did not at the time recognize parental rights for same sex partners," said Elizabeth.

Those hurdles make them really appreciate the 5 to 4 ruling in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide and that is why it was important for them to celebrate with their kids on the steps of the Supreme Court in the company of other LGBT families.

"Over the course of our relationship, we've gone from no rights at all to full marriage rights in every state," Elizabeth said. "It's amazing, it's wonderful."