Toronto readying for mass same-sex wedding

(Updated) Over 100 gay and lesbian couples tied the knot in Toronto today. The mass wedding at Casa Loma was a part of World Pride festivities and aimed to break the record for the biggest gay wedding ever.

This, is a love story. Yes, it’s a record-setting mass marriage for World Pride Week. But that isn’t the story. The story is about the boundaries of love. How they have expanded, and how powerfully important that is to the world.

“We were thinking of eloping and we didn’t think we would have a big celebration,” said Jen Chang Ho, one of the many who got married today.

From the age of nine, Ho decided that she would never get married. In her native Venezuela, only a man and a woman could marry. Across the world, her future partner, Inae Lee, made a life-changing decision.

“I wanted to study in Toronto, where there’s more freedom to gay people,” said Lee.

And when she saw Jen two years ago, she was free to follow her heart.

“I pursued her. She was attractive and I pursued her, and she finally said yes,” said Lee.

The story was different for Bonn Brown and Craighton Cooper. Partners for 15 years, there was no opportunity for them to marry in their native Texas.

“I never thought I’d be married in a castle! It’s amazing. It’s awesome!” said Brown.

So Craighton secretly planned for them to be a part of this ceremony:

“Yesterday, to my surprise, he gave me a matching ring,” saud Brown.

But even after the ceremony, although the U.S. Federal government will recognize their legal marriage, the state of Texas will still say they’re not married.

And for Inae, the sting of rejection strikes even more closely to her heart.

“I don’t get my parents support. It’s meaningful to me that this community supports this, and this can actually be celebrated, instead of shunned away,” said Lee.

Reverend Cynthia Scott was one of the first pastors to preside over a same sex marriage in Toronto. She says, the barriers to such unions are few, in Ontario.

“Do you want to be married? Is there any reason you ought not to be married? And, you are now married,” said Scott.

“Canada is way ahead of the U.S. when it comes to social issues, progressive issues, and treating people equally,” said Brown.

Twenty-five years ago, Canada’s embrace could not contain this diversity. Today, our arms are open to men and women from around the world who prove, in record numbers, that love will, indeed, conquer all.