Jerimiah + Brenyn // LGBTQ+ Fox Cities Elopement

HI, FRIENDS!

This is a special one for me, and I’m doing my best not to be slightly too flowery in telling you why. (Content note for internalized homophobia.)

Jerimiah and I attended the same high school (go bulldogs, or whatever). At the time, I was a deeply-closeted, right-wing, Christian fundamentalist teenager and believed my sole purpose in life was to win souls for the lord. Jerimiah was the first proudly-out queer person I’d ever known. I invited him to my youth groups and Bible studies. We engaged in looooooong comment threads on my Facebook posts, ranging from topics like the demonic nature of the Twilight series, to why Catholics wouldn’t go to heaven, to other embarrassing things I’ve mercifully expunged from my memory. I thought I was performing a godly love for him in my many unsuccessful attempts to convert him. In actuality, his kindness as I grew from loudly evangelical to quietly questioning everything I’d ever known was a much more accurate depiction of any kind of holy love. I truly cannot remember a time in which Jerimiah ever stopped supporting my artistic endeavors, regardless of the many Bible verses I directed towards him.

In the years since, reconnecting and making amends and coming out to this sweet human being has been so healing for me. To be one of just a few people lucky enough to witness him marry Brenyn was an incredible honor. The fullest of full circles. The fullest of hearts.