The press surrounds David and Rich Speakman after they became the first same-sex couple to wed in Silicon Valley, Calif., on June 16. David titled this photo “When press attack.”

Above, they are shown getting their marriage license in San Jose City Hall.

By Viv Sade

For Buscovoice.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – David and Richard “Rich” Speakman were the first same-sex couple to get married in Silicon Valley, Calif

And they paid for it with President Bush’s economic stimulus rebate check.

“It paid for everything,” said David Speakman, 39, who grew up in Churubusco, Ind. “We should probably send him a thank-you note.”

The couple was married once before, four years ago in San Francisco in City Hall. That marriage was voided when the California Supreme Court ruled the city and county of San Francisco overstepped its authority by providing same-sex marriages before the state gave its approval.

“So we had to get married again, because the first one didn’t ‘take’” David said.

They especially wanted to get married in Santa Clara County, because that’s where they live.

David Speakman is a former journalist turned law student and works at a law firm in San Jose. Rich Speakman, 39, is the owner of Sage Technologies, an information technology consulting firm.

Rich took David’s last name of Speakman to show his commitment, he said.

Growing up gay in the Midwest

Rich grew up in the San Jose area, but David was born and raised in the Midwest, where he stayed for 30 years. His dad was a firefighter in Fort Wayne where David was born. He moved 15 miles north to Churubusco when he was in first grade, after his parents divorced.

“Churubusco is my mom’s hometown – she is a Herron,” David said. “My family has been in the Busco/Wolf Lake/Merriam area for more than 150 years.”

“Being a gay person in Indiana is not as bad as some may think,” David said. “I was completely happy there. There were many gay people in Churubusco, although most eventually moved to Fort Wayne.”

David did not.

He grew up in Churubusco, graduated from Churubusco High School, attended Ball State University and then went right back to his hometown, he said.

David said the people in Indiana are not the problem. The laws are. “The state laws are openly hostile against us,” David said.

He got a job with some small weekly newspapers, and then worked for two years – Jan. 1996 to Oct. 1997 – as the evening and weekend assignment editor at 21 Alive television station in Fort Wayne.

October 1997 – The move west

Eight years ago David decided to move to California for a once-in-lifetime opportunity to work in the fifth largest TV market in the U.S.

After moving to California and seeing much more acceptance of gay lifestyles is when David said it hit him how bad gay people have it in the Midwest.

“The state says it’s perfectly acceptable to fire someone just because they are gay,” he said. “We can also be denied housing, home loans, and the police turn a blind eye to anti-gay crimes or vandalism.”

David said he had no problem with the Churubusco or Fort Wayne police force, but Muncie was another story.

David had a friend in Indiana who was attacked by a gang of teenage thugs who called the man and the male walking with him, “fags” before beating them with baseball bats.

“My friend was straight and was walking with his brother to a convenience store to buy a soda for his then-pregnant wife,” David said.

When David met Rich he was working for a dot-com called ON24, where he directed a news crew of 40 people spread out among three continents. When the dot-com business went bust, the news division of David’s company was eliminated and he was laid off. He went back to work as a news editor, but later decided to switch gears and go to law school.

David works as a paralegal while attending school. If everything goes as planned, he will graduate and become an attorney in 2010.

Families are supportive

David’s and Rich’s families think their sons’ union is great.

“My mom is very happy, but was unable to attend (the wedding) for health reasons,” David said. “And when one of my sisters call, they are more likely to want to talk to Rich than me. My family loves him.”

Rich said his mom is busy downloading every video feed off of the Internet that she can find of her son’s wedding. The couple was interviewed and video-taped by many media outlets before, during and after the ceremony.

“My family has been extremely supportive,” Rich said.

David is estranged from his father – but so are his siblings, he said, and being gay is not the issue.

Perfect for each other

When David moved to California, he was working 70 or more hours a week and rarely had any free time. He met Rich six years ago through an online dating service that a friend talked him into trying “for free.”"I’m from Indiana,” David said. “I’ll try anything for free.”

They’ve been inseparable ever since.

“Oddly enough, I met Rich at the same time my sister met her husband through the Internet,” David said. “And they’ve been together about as long as Rich and me.”

As it turned out, Rich lived only a mile from David, they attended the same gym, had the same favorite restaurant in Mountain View and, David said, “pretty much shared all of the same views on everything from our favorite television shows to our religious beliefs.”

Rich was raising a teenage cousin after his aunt – the boy’s mother – died, when he met David. The two raised the boy and saw him through to adulthood.

“Josh is 21 now and living in Texas,” Rich said proudly.

There were no protesters when Rich and David went to City Hall to tie the knot, but David said, there were plenty of strangers who came up to congratulate them on their nuptials.

Out on the streets of San Jose, amid the crowds of people, David did see one lone protester. He was holding a sign that said, “Gay marriage is a fairy tale.”

“He’s certainly entitled to his belief,” David said. “And, in a way, I agree with him. Our wedding was like a fairy tale dream come true. It was a special day for both of us.”

Where to from here

Would he ever consider moving back home again … as the song goes … in Indiana?

David said he and Rich have talked about it.

“I’ve always lived here, but I would consider it if David wanted to be closer to his family,” Rich said.

Rich has visited Churubusco and Fort Wayne, but was particularly impressed with the Harlan area where two of David’s sisters live.

“He was fascinated by the Amish way of life, since they don’t have Amish in California,” David said.

“I would love to move back to Indiana, but probably won’t,” David said. “It has nothing to do with being gay. It has to do with the Indiana economy.”

“When you think about it, some areas of our country that are the most economically successful – Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Chicago – are those that accept, tolerate and celebrate the diversity among their citizens,” he said.

“If Indiana truly wants to attract high-paying innovative jobs, they should roll out the welcome mat to all honest, hard-working, creative and innovative people no matter their race, religion or gender … or the gender of their spouse,” David said.

One thing that might draw him back is the weather.

“Silicon Valley is basically a desert climate where the skies are cloudless and blue 300 days a year,” David said.

“I miss the humid summers, the afternoon thunderstorms and even the early mornings after an ice storm in Indiana, when everything is quiet and twinkling in the sun.”