Best LGBT weddings and proposals of 2018
If the past 12 months have shown anything, it’s that the LGBT+ community sure knows how to put on a good proposal—and stage a dazzling wedding.
These LGBT+ weddings and proposals have taken on a myriad of fabulous forms, from Harry Potter-themed lesbian engagements to a gay couple’s perfectly synchronised first dance.
Still, with all this love in the air, it’s important to remember that there is a long way to go before we achieve marriage equality worldwide.
Same-sex marriage is legal in just 25 countries across the globe, which means there are 170 nations where there is no equal marriage.
As 2018 draws to an end, PinkNews takes a look at the best LGBT+ weddings and proposals.
From gorgeous lesbian weddings to heartwarming gay proposals, read on below.
Gay porn stars get engaged after filming orgy scene together
Brian Bonds and Mason Lear got engaged after filming an orgy scene together. (rawfuckclub/Twitter)
Gay porn star couple Brian Bonds and Mason Lear got engaged in July— immediately after filming a gang bang scene together.
Bonds popped the question to Lear straight after the pair had finished filming an orgy scene.
In an explicit video posted on Twitter, a visibly excited Bonds, who is already down on his knees, says: “Well, this is the end of our tour and I can say that this was probably the best day that ever happened between us. And I’d love to do it over and over again, but there is one difference that I want.”
Pulling out a box with a ring, he adds: “I want you wearing this.”
Lesbian couple film Harry Potter-themed engagement
In November, proud Slytherin fan Heather Pearson proposed to her girlfriend and fellow Potterhead Kelsey Stacey in Portland, Oregon, USA.
The couple both already owned wands and Slytherin cloaks, and in the run-up to the proposal Pearson convinced her fiancée-to-be to help plan a Harry Potter-themed Halloween party.
Pearson sent her girlfriend on a Harry Potter scavenger hunt across Portland, where Stacey was surprised by her friends and the first three Harry Potter books containing personalised love letters from Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy.
She found the fourth book, the couple’s favourite, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, back at their apartment, where Pearson was waiting, dressed as Draco Malfoy.
Pearson pulled out a ring and the copy of Goblet of Fire, which had been creatively folded so that the pages spelled out “Marry me?”
Stacy emotionally accepted the proposal to cheers from the pair’s friends.
Watch the video below:
Harry Potter author JK Rowling was quick to congratulate the couple, posting on Twitter: “CONGRATULATIONS! .”
Queen’s cousin marries in first gay royal wedding
Lord Ivar Mountbatten (right) uploaded a photo on Instagram of him and his husband James Coyle on their same-sex wedding day. (ivar_mountbatten/Instagram)
Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Lord Ivar Mountbatten married airline cabin manager James Coyle in the first-ever gay royal wedding back in September.
Mountbatten, who wed Coyle in a low-key ceremony, is the first known member of the queen’s extended family to enter a gay marriage, though he is not regarded as an official member of the royal family.
The lord, 55, was previously married to a woman but opened up about his sexuality in 2016 after a decades-long struggle.
The service was carried out by Devon County Council’s registration service manager Trish Harrogate and music was provided by gospel choir group Elysian Music UK.
Penny Mountbatten, the lord’s ex-wife, who he is still friends with, walked him down the aisle.
Mountbatten proudly shared photos of his big day and thanked his three daughters for their support.
Trans couple becomes first to marry in Indian state
Surya and Ishaan K Shaan tied the knot in May. (Hifsu Rahman Maliyekal/facebook)
In May, Surya and Ishaan K Shaan became the first trans pair to ever marry in Kerala, a state in India with more than 34 million people.
The trailblazers got married in front of more than 500 people in a beautiful ceremony at Mannam Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, after a change in Indian law allowed for trans people to marry.
“We are now officially a couple – husband and wife and we will show the world that we can love and live a marriage too,” said Surya, a TV actor and trans activist, according to NDTV.
The pair met late last year at an event, started dating, then quickly decided to marry in Kerala’s first trans wedding.
Australian gay couple get married minutes after equal marriage is legalised
Athletes Craig Burns and Luke Sullivan had their wedding in January. (Instagram/craigzillaburns)
Athletes Craig Burns and Luke Sullivan became one of the first gay couples to marry after Australia’s same-sex marriage law came into effect.
The pair tied the knot just minutes after midnight on January 9, a month after the country’s Parliament voted to pass The Marriage Act.
The bill was approved in overwhelmingly numbers by lawmakers after the public did the same, voting in favour of equal marriage by a 61.6 percent to 38.4 percent margin.
A number of couples were given exemptions to get married before January 9, with Sydney’s Lauren Price and Amy Laker the first to be wed under the new law.
Lesbian wedding: couple sets dresses on fire
Brides on fire. (Michael Huang of Cukini Studios)
Performers April Jennifer Choi and Bethany Byrnes, who are both experienced in pulling fire stunts, got married on October 13.
During the lesbian wedding, the couple, who have been together for more than seven years, decided to make the occasion especially memorable for their guests—by setting their wedding dresses on fire.
“What we enjoy the most about performing with fire is feeling like a firebender from Avatar: The Last Air-Bender,” Choi told PinkNews.
The pictures by photographer Michael Huang of Cukini Studios show the two brides facing one another as the trains of their dresses catch fire.
Recalling the moment, Choi told PinkNews: “I was just running through if we missed anything. Are we posed correctly? Are the slits adequate? Is Beth okay? Is she nervous? Is the fire climbing correctly? Is there any way I can comfort her better?”
Scavenger couple has fairytale wedding at Pride event
Erica and Jorge have been together for 16 years. (Prefeitura de Franco da Rocha/Facebook)
Erica and Jorge, who work as scavengers, got married at a Pride event in the Brazilian municipality of Franco da Rocha, near São Paulo, back in July.
The couple collect as many as 400 kilos of recyclable materials every day in their cart and are well-known locally.
Jorge, a cis man, wed Erica, who uses female pronouns and identifies as a ‘travesti,’ in a ceremony on stage at a local Pride event with LGBT+ supporters.
Travestis are common to cultures in South America. Brazilian LGBT+ activist Sofia Favero told NBC News that this term denotes a person “who has subverted the gender norms forced upon them before birth,” and “doesn’t accept existing strictly in the two single categories of male or female.”
The couple had successfully set up a campaign to get married and were supported by the local community.
Local authority Prefeitura de Franco da Rocha pledged its support for the couple and even posted videos of the ceremony.
Gay couple stun wedding guests with flawless first dance mash-up
Noah and PJ stunned the audience. (YouTube)
In October, one gay couple shared their incredible wedding dance online.
Noah and PJ, who tied the knot in upstate New York earlier this month, uploaded a clip to YouTube of their first dance—and it’s not to be missed.
The couple start off slow-dancing to Morgana King’s “It’s a Quiet Thing,” before the music suddenly cuts out.
The pair then break into an elaborate dance routine to Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga.”
The newlyweds’ choreographed routine was performed to whoops and cheers from the audience.
Gay couple from LGBT migrant caravan marry in Tijuana
Pedro and Erick married in front of journalists and human rights workers (Twitter/SarahKinosian)
A gay couple from an LGBT+ migrant caravan in central America married in an emotional ceremony in Tijuana in November.
Pedro and Erick tied the knot in front of journalists and human rights workers.
Freelance journalist Sarah Kinosian, who is based in central American, shared a video of the pair kissing after the gay wedding.
She wrote: “Congrats to Erick and Pedro! The first LGBT+ couple of seven from the migrant caravan to get married today.”
The ceremony was officiated by two women and appears to have taken place in front of a rainbow backdrop.
The men are overcome with emotion as they hug in front of onlookers.
