So a few months ago my wife came to me and asked if I wanted to go to her cousin’s wedding (who’s gay), up in the Bay area. I didn’t think twice about it and said yea, of course we’ll go. I don’t know Jimmy and Hugo well but I’ve met Jimmy a while back and always thought he was a stand up guy. I’ve never heard a negative thing about Jimmy so I was more than happy to be there for them.

I personally have never had an openly gay male friend, much less gone to a wedding so I was really interested in how everything would go and how people would take to such a ceremony. As much as I keep to myself and shy away from social settings, I’m fascinated by how people interact with one another. So going to this was as much about celebrating their relationship as it was being a part of something that I had never seen. I know it sounds a bit odd, I don’t mean to make it sound like some experiment or something.

I am not a crier or someone that gets all that emotional about things at all. Most often than not I could really careless about people displaying their love. I’m usually indifferent to it all but this wedding was a bit different for me.

Socially speaking gays have in a large degree been treated like second class citizens in this country and around the world. In the State of California, while I voted for gay marriage, the majority of us did not. I’ve seen the struggles that gays have had to endure and relate to it as a minority in this country but I’m thankful that within my short lifetime I’ve been able to see the law changed from something that was completely outlawed to now being able to see it legalized in a few states.

The fact that they were able to proudly and boldly define themselves against differing opinions by society and most important other family members was touching and incredibly brave. We all wear masks in order to keep certain aspects of our lives private from the scrutiny of the people around us. Now imagine having to hide something as important as the person you’re in a relationship with, the person you love, the person you’re choosing to start a life around.

No matter our religion, our jobs as people shouldn’t be to judge others and degrade them for being different. We shouldn’t use religion as a crutch in order to treat people differently. Our jobs as sinners and imperfect human beings is to love our neighbor and stop throwing stones. I suggest to anyone who is invited to gay wedding, no matter how religious you are, and how much it may bother you please accept.

Go with an open mind and open heart and support love.