In Maryland, it's highly unlikely that marriages such as Brown and Rippetoe's will be recognized because in September the Court of Appeals upheld a state statute defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The landscape is further complicated by a November ballot initiative that would change the California state Constitution to bar same-sex marriage, as 26 other states do. If the California initiative passes, legal experts say, it is improbable that those who are already married will have their rights removed - there is no precedent for taking away someone's marriage and initiatives are generally not retroactive.
But some say this issue remains foggy.
"The couples that are making this leap to run out there and get married are setting themselves up for psychological and emotional pain, which wouldn't have been necessary if judges had been smart enough to say that marriage has been between one man and one woman for eternity," said Doug Steigler, the executive director of the Family Protection Lobby, which opposes same-sex marriage.
"It's so confusing," he said. "We need to have a federal marriage amendment to clarify that marriage is one-man, one-woman."
In certain cases, even same-sex marriage proponents are telling gay couples to proceed with caution. People who are in the military, who do not have citizenship or who receive state benefits should seek legal advice before marrying their partners, Kendell said. Furthermore, filing for divorce in California requires a six-month residency, which would be a messy business for out-of-state couples.
Advocates are also explicitly discouraging gay couples who marry in California from filing lawsuits in their home states demanding their marriage rights.
"It's abundantly clear that the most effective way to move this issue forward is through public education and public conversation," Kendell said. "In a state like Maryland, I think the far better course of action than litigation is actual experience and working legislatively."
Though a Maryland bill that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples died in the most recent General Assembly session, advocates are hoping to continue their efforts next year. Their opponents are likely to continue their push for a state constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage.
R. Claire Snyder has been waiting for the opportunity to get a marriage license, and, despite the limitations that Maryland residents face, she and her partner, Mikki Hall, plan to make the trek to San Francisco in July for their nuptials.
