When Heather Morgan made the decision to join the Canadian bridal show circuit with her fledgling wedding photography business last spring, she assumed she would meet other vendors, make connections and perhaps gain a few clients. What she received was a reality check on just how harsh the wedding industry can be for LGBT couples, which inspired her to make a life-altering decision.
“During a show in April, one of the other vendors came up to me in a panic, ‘The next couple coming through is gay,’ he told me in a hurry and then ran off to the next vendor. I needed to be warned about a couple's sexual orientation before they came through?” she explains. “I was confused, but shrugged it off. After all, I had this awesome couple to talk to! They were a lesbian couple. They were sweet, smart, funny, and we hit it off right away.”
After chatting with the happy couple (whose wedding she will be photographing next fall), she yet again heard the neighboring vendors gossiping. “One questioned why the hotel had let them into the show in the first place when they found out they were gay. This is when I realized that while we may enjoy the freedom to marry a same-sex partner in Canada, it did not mean it was accepted,” Morgan says. “As someone who was newly out myself, it cut me deeply. I realized that as gay couples we had a hard enough time earning the respect of our peers, but did we really need to dodge hostilities from the vendors we paid to make our wedding day special?”
Seeing firsthand the lack of respect to the couple’s commitment drove Morgan into mission mode. After in-depth research turned up no other gay-only photography businesses, she sought out to create the first and dubbed it 2 Bride Photography. “I wanted to create a safe haven of sorts on my own little corner of the Internet where all queer couples could come and be accepted. Period.”
The company was launched in October 2012 and the website went live just this week, which clearly states her intention of working with gay, lesbian, transgendered and queer couples exclusively.
“Each time I hear the words ‘gay-friendly’ it gets translated to ‘straight-preferred’ in my mind,” she explains of her decision to market only to LGBT couples. “Gay-friendly photographers market to straight couples. They work with straight couples. They make their living off of straight couples and therefore that is their preferred clientele. Are they happy to do a same-sex wedding should the opportunity arise? Sure. And do not get me wrong, some gay-friendly photographers are phenomenal. Some are gay themselves. Some, I have also found, only do it because they will not turn down the money. So unfortunately you do not always know what you are going to get.”
Her decision to focus solely on the LGBT community has enabled her to become an expert source for gay wedding photography, whether it’s being sensitive to any familial drama or knowing the ins-and-outs of traditions, new and old. “I understand that the needs of gay couples are not the same as that of straight couples. Everyone is unique. And when a couple comes to me for their wedding photography I get to know them first—their needs, their story,” she says. “We work together so that at the end of the day they are left with photography that truly captures who they are as a couple.”
Brittny Drye is the senior editor at Equally Wed, the nation's premier online magazine for gay and lesbian weddings and honeymoons. Follow her on Twitter @BrittnyDrye.
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Comments
Also, I know that the allied-vendor bashing wasn’t meant as it sounded, but I would like to stand up for myself as well as other allied vendors who celebrate love in all forms. Be careful when making generalizations like this; we can be your allies, too.
To clarify: Does this mean you'll work with straight couples, but you just focus your marketing towards same-sex couples? If so, then there's really no problem, but the article makes it sound like you would turn away straight couples, solely because of their sexual orientation. If that's the case, then that is discrimination (and yes, you can absolutely discriminate against a majority).
While you’re free to work with whomever you like, as a rule, discrimination is a pretty bad business practice.
To clarify: does this mean that you do work with straight couples, but you just focus on marketing toward same-sex couples? If so, I have no problem with that.
However, if you're working with only same-sex couples and you turn away straight couples solely because they are straight, then that is discrimination (yes, you can absolutely discriminate against a majority).
While you're free to work with whomever you want, discrimination isn't a good business practice, and I think that is was Josh is trying to say here.
And I know the "allied vendors" bashing wasn't meant as it sounded, but I just want to stand up for the rest of us allied vendors who celebrate love in all forms. Be careful when making generalizations like this; we can be your allies, too.
Yeah I dont have the energy for the back-and-forth either. I appreciate what you're trying to do, and maybe after some time in the industry you'll see the error in your business plan. There's a difference between focused advertising and exclusionary practices. On top of that, even the inference that some allied vendors are just allies for the money is backhanded and wrong. But I hope you find fulfillment in your business and I'm sure it'll fit some niche.
As far as EW goes, this is the last time we'll even give their site a hit. They gave you free advertising in the form of a sponsored post and are incredibly hypocritical. With tons of genuine, honest resources out there for the LGBT wedding community, it's not problem to scratch this one off our list.
Haha I'm definitely not threatened by Heather's business. We're not even in the same country. I just know this site and it's readers would be up in arms at any wedding vendor refusing to work with same-sex couples, and at the end of the day Heather is doing the same thing... discriminating based on sexual orientation. It'd be one thing if she just put the majority of her ad $$$ into LGBT sites, but she says she exclusively works with LGBT clients. Discrimination.
And I care because Im an ally. My best friend is gay. At least a third of my clients are LGBT clients. I care because we're fighting for equality. Not working with someone based on their orientation is NOT equality, no matter what side you're on.
WWG, RJS & Speega I wanted to thank you for the kind words of support. I really do appreciate everything you have said. :)
Josh, I really do not wish to argue with you. I apologize that we do not see eye to eye on my business plans, but I would hope that you would not take that out on EquallyWed. It is their job to advise couples on the new trends out in the industry. It is not their mission to agree or disagree, but to let gay couples know what is new in our industry and to let them decide for themselves whether they wish to support something or not. I would hope that you would take this into consideration before you pulled your business from them.
But if Lane Bryant refused to let non-plus size couples into their establishment, it'd be discrimination (and lawsuit-worthy). Heather's working on the same methodology.
And you can't "specialize" in taking pictures of people's sexual orientation. Who a client has sex with or is attracted to has nothing to do with your photography. She's being separatist and discriminatory, and it's sad after years of being subjected to the same thing, members of the community are suddenly okay with it.
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