"A True Love Story..."

Brian Jenson & Jeromy Manke, Nevada

This story is from early 2014 when the ACLU sponsored a Marriage Equality contest in the run up to the Supreme Court's historic marriage equality ruling in June 2015

JM: One of the first times that we were hanging out, a friend of Brian's wanted to show me something on his phone, so she unlocked his phone—Brian's standing right there—and the first thing that pops up is my Facebook page.

BJ: I got caught Facebook stalking [laughs]. That kind of opened the door for us, though, it gave me the "in" to be more honest.

JM: The next time we were hanging out, I dropped him off, and he kissed me and said, "you're going to be trouble." So that was pretty cute.

BJ: Then he went to Vegas for a trip. It was the first month or so that we'd been dating, and the first time we'd really been apart. He had one of his friends deliver to my salon my favorite coffee and a note that said, "I want to make sure that you're smiling." We actually still have that note framed in our house, it's still there. The way we got engaged, it was really awesome. We took a trip to Europe, backpacked for about 6 weeks, and Jeremy decided to book a room in castle in Spain. So, I figured that was a perfect opportunity to have a fairytale moment.

JM: So, he asked me to go for a walk. It was at night. We walked along the wall that overlooks the city, and I was being all--Brian calls it "playful," I call it "stupid,"—and I'm like, "let's throw things down this well," or whatever, and I turned around, and he was down on one knee, and he asked me to marry him. I was so shocked…but he had the ring and everything. How could I say no?

What's a hurdle you've faced in your relationship?

JM: Both of us overcoming religious hurdles happened early in our lives.

BJ: Before we met.

JM: For sure. I think that helped us become the people who we are today, which I think is really great.

BJ: It made our relationship easier, too, because at that point, our families---it was kind of said and done already. Everything was on a happier note.

JM: It really paved the way for general acceptance from our relatives, which has been great. It's added so much to our relationship, having that support. But a hurdle? We have the little things, all the time. I can be kinda naggy, and definitely more organized [laughs].

BJ: Like with any relationship, you just have those little things.

Why did you enter the "My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding" contest?

JM: I'm extremely involved. Brian would probably say I'm addicted to organizations…I looked at this as an opportunity to help promote marriage equality, especially Nevada, where it's illegal. Brian loved the idea.

BJ: I was never involved before being with Jeremy…he's really inspired me to be on boards and help out with events, so when this came about, at first, I don't think we looked at it as an aspect of such a large social movement. At the time we were looking at it like it was more playful…but now…it's so surreal that we're in the middle of social change for our future, for our kids, for their kids. It's crazy.

JM: I think it's great that it's brought such awareness back to Nevada…to see the amount of support that we got has been really huge. Just walking in the grocery store and have people walk up to you and say, "we saw you in the paper! We're voting for you!"

BJ: Some of these people are very conservative. Just having that alone is big. Changing that one person is just huge.

How will you spend the $5,000?

JM: We've been working super hard at planning our wedding.

BJ: But we kind of lost the opportunity to have in our budget money for wedding rings. To have something that I think is a symbol of that whole experience, a memento. I would love for part of that money to go towards just a little something.

Finish the sentence, "the whole country needs marriage equality because…"

JM: Our country was built on the ideal that everyone would be given equal access to the same rights and the same opportunities. Marriage is not only an institution that provides rights, it also provides opportunity for two people to join together in a committed relationship, and celebrate that commitment to each other, and help to make the world a better place through that happiness that they're able to create in their relationship