Meet Colby and Elyse, a lucky-in-love couple who won an engagement-style photo shoot.
Colby and Elyse have been best friends since they were 15 years old, and they’ve been in a relationship for two years. Last autumn, they worked with photographer Danielle Christian to celebrate and promote LGBT History Month, which is celebrated during October in the United States.
Danielle put out a call on her Facebook community for a same-sex couple interested in a complimentary engagement-style session in order to celebrate the beauty of love and equal rights. Here are the lucky winners, Colby and Elyse:
From Colby and Elyse:
We just had our two-year anniversary, but if you count the years we’ve been close, we’ve been best friends since we were 15. We never thought we’d be a couple down the road! Our relationship is honest, and that’s more than we could ask for. We both knew so much about each other when we committed to being in a relationship that there weren’t any skeletons in the closet. In fact, we probably know every detail of each other’s spring breaks and we got into a lot of trouble together on those trips! And, regarding engagement … this is a question we’ve been hearing a lot! Colby works full-time and Elyse is in school full-time so a wedding probably isn’t in our near future. But, this being said, what girl doesn’t want to rock a ring on her finger that screams “I’m taken!”?
From Danielle, their photographer:
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge advocate of equal rights and marriage. I believe that love is love. No one has the right to tell anyone who can or can’t love and marry. I have gay friends and gay family, but even it it weren’t for them making it more personal for me, I have Jett, my two-year-old son. After having him, I really started to grasp the concept that we are not born with hate or prejudice, but rather, we learn it from our peers and surroundings. I want my child to grow up with an open, free, loving mind for all people.
Photos: Danielle Christian/Ashfall Mixed Media
