In my late twenties I pretty much accepted the fact that I would be single for the rest of my life. But now in my late thirties I’ve been married several times, gay married. You see I’ve lived in New Jersey and New York City with my wife (I hate the term partner) and in order to protest our rights went through the process of a domestic partnership, civil union and finally a real marriage hen the New York Senate passed the marriage bill by a 33-29 margin. We even had a formal wedding ceremony and reception in 2008 to celebrate our marriage.

Jay is my soulmate and when you really love someone you’ll walk through fire for them.

After the bill passed in NYC we took a chance and entered the marriage lottery. Shortly after we received notice that we were eligible to get married on July 23, 2011 – making us one of the first LGBT couples to legally wed in New York. Even though we had an amazingly beautiful wedding, it meant a lot to be a part of this historic event.

The highlight of the day was when photographer from the New York Times asked us if he could document our wedding and we agreed. The next day we saw that we were one out of eighteen couples to make the New York Times article, Same-Sex Couples Marry in New York. Amazing!

The judge asked our five-year old son, Jacob, to be a witness. As you can see from the photo above, Jacob was the star of the day, we were just his backup dancers! His cuteness wins people over every single time!

We will always remember that day; we were treated with respect and shared a day with many other gay couples that were finally able to legally wed. It makes me smile to know that whatever people may or may not know or understand about LGBT relationships that they are able to put their beliefs aside and not trample on the human rights of others. This day will live on forever in my sweetest memories.