When my wife and I started planning our wedding, no mainstream publication had covered a gay wedding online or in print, which was, of course, a problem for us. After our own wedding in June 2009, we set out to launch our own magazine for gay weddings. Read more on that backstory by clicking here. Before we launched in March 2010, Get Married Magazine was the first national consumer publication to publish a lesbian wedding story—and it happened to be ours—in its Fall 2009 issue. Then Martha Stewart Weddings followed suit with its Winter 2009 issue featuring the marriage of the gentlemen behind the beloved Good As You blog.
But most other publications continue to dig their heels, whether it’s at their editorial discretion based on staff beliefs, for fear of losing readers or for fear of losing advertisers.
So it is quite thrilling to announce that Essence.com, the online companion for Essence Magazine, has posted its first lesbian wedding story on Aisha and Danielle Moodie-Mills in its Bridal Bliss section.
This didn’t happen serendipitously, of course. GLAAD had a major hand in this, the national nonprofit that works tirelessly to ensure that gay, lesbian, transgender and queer folks are represented properly in the media.
“Other media outlets should follow Essence.com’s strong example of including stories of gay and lesbian people that spotlight the rich diversity of our community and the issues that affect our lives,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “It’s these stories that help grow acceptance of our community and give a voice to LGBT people of color who are too often invisible in the media.”
And to that we say bravo.
Photo by Craig Paulson Photography
