Is there a huge difference between gay weddings and straight weddings and if so, what is the difference? The thing is that there isn't a huge difference between a gay wedding and a straight wedding. It is in the emtions behind the wedding. No matter where you go, if there is a gay wedding or a very publicized gay wedding, there will be emotions and not just good or happy, but a huge mix.
A wedding is a wedding. You have a happy couple, friends and family, a ring, cake and someone to bless their union. You have two people that solidify their love for each other and declare that they will be together no matter what happens. Weddings are amazing and romantic and full of emotion. The family and friends cry, the bride and groom, the brides and bride or the groom and groom are nervous, happy and excited to begin their lives together and for the gay community it means a lot more than to the straight community because until recently, gays were not allowed to get married.
Because gays could not get married, they were not able to have equal rights. They could not visit each other in the hospital, get parental rights, have rights to the money and live they built with their partner if one passes away, etc... It was a horrible way to live knowing that if anything happened to the person you loved and spent your life with you could do nothing to help them and not even get to be there with them. It was absolutely horrible and so when certain States and the District of Columbia passed gay marriage making it legal, the gays flocked to those states and the District.
Not only did the weddings bring in a nice economic burst for the states and the district, but it also brought a feeling of happiness and celebration. When you have a community that was held down for so long and then they are given freedoms and rights, especially ones that involve one of the strongest emotions, love, then when they can finally have those same rights that everyone else had, the feeling is a lot more special. Women felt it when they got the right to vote, black people felt it when they were free'd from slavery and gay people are starting to get that same feeling of equality as gay marriage becomes legal. That is why there is an extra sense of emotion and also tension when you are at a gay wedding vs. a straight wedding. It is the celebration not only of love, but also equality. You do have to remember that I said there were mixed emotions as well though.
You still have many States and Commonwealth's that do not allow gay marriage. There are also a ton of religious groups that oppose it too becuase they feel that god hates or discriminates against gays. The thing is that God is supposed to love everyone and make them in his/her own image so if that is the case, why would he hate gays? Because of this unknown reason for hating a community that never really did anything wrong creates protests outside of some gay weddings.
These protestors stand there with their signs and yell at people who are going in. Not only is it offensive but how would they like it if people showed up and shouted over their ceremonies while they were getting married. The thing is that although gay people and gay couples are used to this sort of treatment, straight people aren't and they sometimes get upset by it. They may lash out at the protestors and they may yell back at them. The thing that they need to remember is that this day isn't about the protestors, it is about the couple and celebrating them. If they don't give into the protestors and they continue to feel happy and send out good emotions to the couple getting married, the protestors eventually give up and the only emotion you feel int he building is love and that is the most important and one of the strongest ones there.
I was reading through a few sites about gay weddings and they inspired me to write a post about what the real difference between a gay wedding and a straight wedding really is. For me it is about the emotions involved in the two. Both are about love but one is also about the celebration of freedom and equaity and to watch a couple or the Mother and Father of a couple who had to watch as their Son or Daughter wasn't able to marry get married, the emotions run even higher than they would at a traditional straight and heterosexual wedding.
