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- Although same sex couples have the rights to tie the knot, not every business in the wedding industry agrees.
- As a result, one American couple faced a lot of discrimination during the planning of their dream wedding.
- The homophobic and discrimination inspired them to open a wedding and event planning business that is LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Same sex couple Erick Jones and Anthony Johnson faced discrimination while trying to plan their dream wedding. They later started their own business named 'A Dream to Remember' to bridge the gap for other LGBTQIA+ couples looking to tie the knot. Fox 26, journalist Gabby Hart spoke to the couple and they told her that they faced discrimination in the simple things when trying to plan their wedding and it’s because of those struggles that they now have a wedding planning business to create a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
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“People would say, ‘Oh you guys are a same sex couple, Oh, we don’t tolerate that. That is against our religion',” Erick says. The couple started planning their dream wedding five years ago, but they never imagined the type of discrimination they would face. “We were like, really, are we still dealing with this at this day and age,” Erick adds. Many officiants didn’t want to perform their ceremony and venues didn’t want them to get married at their establishments.
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“A lot of venues wouldn’t do the ceremony but do the reception or not at all,” Anthony says. Despite the bumps on the road Anthony and Erick still managed to pull off their dream wedding and tied the knot in May, 2017.
“We like to call our business a safe haven,” Erick says.
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Their goal is to make sure no other LGBTQIA+ couples will have to suffer through the discrimination that they faced. They not only plan and decorate their events but they heavily look into every vendor and service provider they use, to make sure that they’re only working with ally- and the LGBTQIA+ community.
“When those vendors either approach us, we approach them then we hit them with a series of questions. Number 1 – How comfortable will you be around a same sex couple or a trans couple. You can really tell from individuals if their heart is in a good place,” Erick adds.
Video by Fox 26 via Oovvuu
