4 LGBTQ Couples on the Importance of Queer Love
| 03/18/19
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Beckham Rivera & Bré Campbell
It's crucial for LGBTQ youth to see relationships like ours so they can understand that anything in this world is achievable. Bre and I found each other on journeys toward our own success, and that's important. Better yourself and you'll attract better circumstances. And to me, Bre is proof." --Beckham Rivera (pictured with his wife, HIV activist Bre Campbell, founder of the Trans Sistas of Color Project)
Diora Baird (left), and her fiancé, Mav Viola
"I chose to come out publicly specifically so that LGBTQ youth could see someone like me living my truth. When I was younger, I didn't have anyone to look up to. If I had, maybe I would have had the strength and awareness to come out much sooner. There's not enough of us represented in the media, so it's vital to show our kids we exist and that we can have what everyone else has: true love. There's an entire pot filled with happiness at the end of the rainbow." -- Guess model and Shameless actress Diora Baird (left), and her fiance, Mav Viola, got engaged in 2017.
Abigail Savage (left) and her wife, Caitlin McElroy
"My wife, Caitlin, and I got married in a tuxedo shop in Bennington, Vermont, before marriage became legal in our hometown, New York City. We eloped, telling no one, and when we showed up in Bennington, the justice of the peace who was presiding on that day was [also] the tuxedo shop owner. Neither of us wanted a big wedding. What was important to us was our marriage, our union -- and not the big to-do. We don't even have pictures of the event. But I wouldn't change a thing, except maybe being able to get married in my own state, which is entirely possible now of course. What a long way this country has come since then. Marriage equality became law on my birthday, June 26th. The best birthday present ever." -- Orange Is The New Black star Abigail Savage (left) and her wife, Caitlin McElroy, have a 3-year-old daughter.
Mollee Gray (Right) And Her Wife Jeka Jane
I think it's incredibly important for our youth to look out into the world and see multiple people like them in a situation that radiates love and happiness. There's been so much negativity in the past and history around being a part of the LGBTQ+ community that it potentially could only hinder the chances of our own youth coming out and living their truth. However, because there is so much more positivity -- and now multiple role models -- for LGBTQ+ youth, I do believe we will make a difference with these kids and show them there is hope to have a successful and happy marriage [and] life." -- Mollee Gray (right), a So You Think You Can Dance alum and star of The Reliant, with her wife, dancer and choreographer Jeka Jane, at their 2017 wedding
