Married last June in a Sacramento synagogue before 300 celebrants, Terry and Barbara Allen-Brecher share a last name, jointly pay state income taxes and possess nearly 19 years of memories together.

They proudly show photos of their wedding – and of their 2004 commitment party at a local Moroccan restaurant, each of them dressed in flowing caftans that the Muslim owner, a friend, gave them as gifts.

They also show photos of two elementary-school-age grandchildren they see regularly, who can't grasp why others would seek to strip their grandmas of marriage rights.

"We felt protected under the law," said Terry Allen-Brecher, 59, a Sacramento County health planner. "Now we don't. We feel like second-class citizens."

They felt protected until Election Day, the couple said, when voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that effectively bans future same-sex marriages like the Allen-Brechers'.

Unless the state Supreme Court blocks Proposition 8 until legal challenges are decided, no more gay marriages will take place.

But between last June and September, after the state Supreme Court ruled gay marriage constitutional, about 11,000 gay couples were wed. Despite Proposition 8 – which amends the state constitution to limit marriage to between a man and a woman – Attorney General Jerry Brown has said gay couples already wed will remain married in the eyes of the law.

The Yes on 8 Campaign has no plans to try to invalidate those marriages, said Yes on 8 attorney Andrew Pugno.

However, he said, "someone else out there might try to do it." He predicted existing gay marriages might be challenged if a spouse "tries to force someone to recognize" the marriage. One scenario, he suggested, might be if an employee wants to add a gay spouse – not a registered domestic partner – to health insurance or other job benefits based on marriage rights.

On Sunday, in response to the passage of Proposition 8, a new post-election group called Californians Against 8 plans a rally at the state Capitol at 1 p.m.

Barbara Allen-Brecher, 52, an administrative law judge in Sacramento, said she feels "run over by a Mack truck" because of the election results.

"I can't tell you the feeling of pain and despair and sadness," she said. "And I'm usually an upbeat person."

The state Supreme Court decision last spring was life-changing, she said, because it made the couple "feel whole" – more than domestic partnership ever did.

"Marriage is the highest level of recognition for a committed relationship," Terry Allen-Brecher said.

When the city of San Francisco began marrying gay couples in 2004, the couple wed there. Their rabbi performed a commitment ceremony in 2004, and then she performed a marriage ceremony, complete with state license, this year.

The couple's extended family – including two grown sons from Terry Allen-Brecher's previous marriage – are completely accepting. "We are family," Barbara Allen-Brecher said. "Under the law, Terry's mother is my mother-in-law. Her sons are my stepsons."

Society seemed more and more accepting as well, they said. Employees at the Social Security Administration congratulated them when they merged their last names.

They carry their marriage license on trips, in case they need to prove their legal relationship.

Terry Allen-Brecher recalled feeling the sting of hate during the campaign this fall when young men from American River College shouted at her as she held a "No on Proposition 8" sign at an event.

"They called me pervert, sodomite, an abomination under God," she said. "Here I was, just about old enough to be their grandmother."

She shook her head. "I'm afraid someone else will talk to me like that now," she said. "That's not a civil way to talk. We need to get back to civility in this country."

Barbara Allen-Brecher said she's convinced Proposition 8 will be overturned at some point. "Over time, people will get it," she said. "It's stunning to me that this could be in the constitution by a simple majority of voters, when the constitution protects minorities."

Call The Bee's Susan Ferriss, (916) 321-1267.