I just got off of a conference call with the Courage Campaign. As a major fighter against Proposition 8, they were, of course, quite interested in President Obama’s declaration that he’ll no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act. (You can read my analysis of that over at the Voice Runnin’ Scared blog.)

On the call was one Derence Kernek, making the case for marriage right now. An exceedingly polite man, you could tell that he did not want to wait for the California Supreme Court to rule on Prop 8’s standing, or for the DOJ to passively let DOMA (hopefully) die in the courts. He doesn’t have time for that.

You see, Derence’s partner Ed of some 40 years has Alzheimer’s disease. They want to get married while Ed can still remember the occasion. They don’t have the money to travel to another state to get married, nor will Ed’s condition allow him to travel. They’ve been together since they had to worry about the KKK coming after them in Kansas City. Now, before Ed’s memory goes, they’d like to honor their commitment legally in California.

The clock is working against them.