Welcome to Love Allies! When we were first developing the concept of Equally Wed way back in 2008, it was an answer to the lack of visibility of same-sex couples in mainstream media, especially wedding publications and websites. It was incredibly important for us to put a face on gay weddings—to showcase how normal and beautiful our love is. And beyond the visualization, I also felt like it was vital for us to have a voice and validation. The New York Times, NPR, CNN and The Advocate agree with us, and they, in addition to other notable media outlets, have commended us for what we’re doing here at Equally Wed.
But now, look how far we’ve come. I’m proud to say Maria and I were the first lesbian couple to have our wedding featured in a major commercial magazine, Get Married, Fall 2009. Right after our story debuted nationally, Martha Stewart Weddings published the wedding story of her nephew Andrew Shulman and Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper, Winter 2010. Sweetly, we share the same wedding date: June 13, 2009.
Now same-sex marriage is legally recognized in nine states: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington, along with the District of Columbia. However, due to the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government does not recognize the same-sex marriages in these states.
Our community is hard at work on achieving full marriage equality in the Supreme Court right now, and soon, I see a day when no one will be mentioning the term “gay” or “same-sex” in front of the word “wedding.”
This new department has been in our hearts and on our minds for a long time because we have so many faithful straight-but-not-narrow friends and family members who are incredibly supportive of marriage equality. Here, we will feature weddings and engagements of our straight allies, as well as post articles on ways to support our LGBTQIA community at large.
We want to hear from you now, allies. Are you a marriage equality supporter? Did you honor the movement in some way in your own wedding? Do you have a special tie to the LGBTQ community?
Read our submission guidelines to get started. Happy writing!
