“We met 3 years ago in August, just a few months after both of us had come out. We started spending more time together, and feelings grew. We’ve been together ever since. Prior to coming out, we both went through depression because we weren’t able to be who we wanted to be. We were both afraid of what other people were going to think. It can be very confusing, but not being able to speak about it makes everything worse and more stressful. We both got so sick of pretending for so long, and wanted to be happy. A year into our relationship, Wisconsin legalized same-sex marriages, and on June 16th of this year, we got married. We are so happy. Being able to spend every moment with your best friend and be married is amazing. 2 years ago, that wasn’t possible. It’s great, but there’s way more progress that could be made. It’s hard to imagine coming out even just 10 years ago. In the future, we both hope that people don’t have to decide whether or not to come out. You shouldn’t have to explain that to anyone. People have said, why did you choose this? You don’t choose it. This isn’t a choice. it’s just who you are. It really is ok to be yourself. The people that actually care about you, are going to love you whether you are gay, straight, or anything else. We wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what we have gone through just to be able to finally come out. We’ve lived it, and we have learned that It’s truly ok to be who you are meant to be.”