Since President Donald Trump’s re-election in November, anxiety has been high among LGBTQ+ people. The Trevor Project’s crisis services saw a volume increase of nearly 700 percent the day after Election Day.
With fears about the overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges, attacks on transgender rights, the dissolution of diversity initiatives, and other threats Trump has made against LGBTQ+ people, the days leading up to the inauguration have been fraught. Twenty-four hours before Trump was sworn into office, however, the only feeling felt within the walls of Charis Books & More in Decatur was joy. A mass wedding event, called “Matrimony for the People,” was the reason.
“The feeling here – do you feel it? I’ve been in tears the whole time, since I walked in the door,” Charis founder Linda Bryant said of the energy cultivated at the bookstore’s mass wedding, hosted the morning of Jan. 19. Ten queer couples married on Sunday surrounded by friends, family, and a community determined to be joyful during a moment of political turmoil.
“Charis is so meaningful to us as a community,” said Mick Rehrig, who renewed his vows with his wife of 13 years, Jen Wilsea. “I’m a trans person, and knowing that Charis is here and will continue to be here fighting for our people grounds me and the work I’m doing with my community. It feels good, [this event] feels like the right way to start [2025].”
The couples were young and old, newly married and renewing their commitment to one another, engaged for years and spontaneously joined in matrimony. They spanned backgrounds and identities, but they all had one thing in common: they were madly in love.
As E.R. Anderson – the executive director of Charis Circle, the bookstore’s philanthropic arm and officiant of the ceremony – invited the couples to exchange rings and “quiet and private” vows, teary sniffles and weepy laughs filled the room as the audience witnessed 10 pockets of intense, devoted, and overjoyed love.
The joy that filled Charis on Sunday was not ignorant of what was to come on Jan. 20. Most of the couples said the inauguration influenced their decision to protect their relationships with the legal rights afforded by marriage, but the overall consensus was that love and community were stronger than fear.
“We survived four years,” said Loren Milliken, who married his partner Allie McCullen. “I’ve been watching [Trump’s] platform really closely, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to rescind civil liberties for marriage, so we went ahead and did it. We also thought this was the best way to get married, at a feminist long-standing bookstore with E.R. It’s very us… It’s a little bit of a fearful time, but we’re going to celebrate together and get through this together.”
“We thought it would be good to get the legal rights just in case, although we’re more worried about other people in our lives who will be facing different consequences possibly from day one,” echoed Nathalie, who married their partner Anna Rose. “But it has been nice to have something positive and joyful to focus on.”
Anna, another of the newlyweds, pointed out that she felt “lucky” to be able to get married, “but there are a lot of legal protections that people aren’t lucky enough to have right now, and we should focus on those as well.”
The celebration closed on Charis’ patio, the warmth of a community celebrating queerness and love combatting the January chill in the air, with cake and a champagne toast given by Anderson.
“To our liberation, to our love, to our trickster and outlaw energy,” Anderson said. “May we always be free, may we always care for one another, and may we always fight for the right to be whoever we are, wherever we are in the world. May we end our borders, both in our personal lives and around the world. May there be peace in our homes, globally, here in this country, in our families, and may we make a better world for our children.”
Subjects identified only by their first names are done so at their request.
