By Craig Fiegener
InstantPride.com

“He was the other guy’s date.” That’s how Bob Warner remembers meeting Calvin Shreve. It was 1969; four men were on a double date in Long Beach.

“I was driving, and he kept eyeing me from the rear-view mirror,” said Warner. “I dropped off my date, and dropped off his date, and we sat in the car and talked all night long.”

Warner (pictured left), 59, and Shreve (pictured right), 55, have been together for 39 years. They have become an institution in Riverside, California– where they own the VIP Nightclub & Restaurant.

Thursday, in the club they opened in October of 1992, they will get married.

“We figured it would never happen,” says Shreve — at least, not with government sanction. The two held an unofficial ceremony in 1979 with friends and family. On Thursday, it’s all legal. Marriage, will all the love and legal trappings straight couples have learned to enjoy… and sometimes hate.

For gays and lesbians, the thrill granted by the Supreme Court of California will require a less-than-fabulous visit to divorce court should things go sour.

Fortunately for Warner and Shreve, they have had plenty of practice at being not only a couple but a family.

In their 39 years together they’ve fostered and adopted nine children, many from troubled homes. “The system gave us the hardest foster kids to take care of,” says Shreve. Being a gay couple didn’t exclude them from becoming foster parents, but Warner says he felt they were always offered the children that straight couples couldn’t handle.

Their kids are all adults now. “We love each one of them; one even works at the club,” Warner said.

Thursday evening, Warner and Shreve will get married at their club — on the dance floor. A disco ball will be glittering above. “Are we excited? Yes,” Warner says. “We keep joking with each other that we’re going to hand each other a pre-nuptial agreement before we exchange vows.” Warner laughs. “You know we love each other. This is a very serious step for us, but we’re not forgetting to have fun. We’re getting married on our dance floor.”

Warner and Shreve met July 10, 1969.

Filed under Headline

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

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