Carrie Ross-Stone, J.D. (1952 - living), and Elisia Ross-Stone, R.N. (1952 - living), are lesbian partners who organized the Rainbow Ride Across America, a cross country bicycle ride and "barnstorming" campaign designed to educate the public about Federal and State laws that harm the LGBT community. Their goal is to inspire lesbians and gay men to get involved in the struggle for LGBT marriage equality.

Elisia Ross, a registered nurse, and Carrie Stone, an attorney specializing in estate planning, have seen the worst over and over again in their day-to-day work. Ross saw gay partners blocked from their partners' hospital beds by rules allowing only legal "next of kin." In her stint as a lawyer representing low-income clients, Stone similar problems in her practice.

In December 2000, Stone and Ross - who have known one another for nearly a decade and became life partners in 1999 - sold their homes, bought a pop-up camper to take their message to their potential audience. They also created an Internet source for their national outreach effort, a Web site, RainbowLaw.com, a Web site specializing in LGBT financial and legal planning issues.

Based in the upstate New York town of Cheektowaga, the couple has taken the camper to women's music festivals, gay pride celebrations and private homes.

Ross and Stone's project is part of a burgeoning movement that has grown considerably since Sept. 11, when a number of gays and lesbians who lost their partners in that day's attacks suddenly found themselves having to battle for recognition as their loved ones' next of kin.