Gregory: We took our marriage license down to the social security office, got the number like you do when you go in, waited for our number, and then this beautiful lady behind the window looked at us and said, “How may I help you gentleman?” And I handed her the marriage license and said, “I need to get my last name legally changed, please.” And she looked confused, and she saw the marriage license, and then looked at me, and then looked at Josh, and then looked confused for a moment again like “OK.” She smiled and entered in the correct data, and it took five minutes, and my last name is Laning now.
Joshua: The day we got married was just something that was…
Gregory: It was a circus.
Joshua: I didn’t expect to get married at the courthouse. We had actually asked a good friend of mine, Rev. Marge Regona, and did our ceremony at the courthouse and she performed our wedding. She had to actually stop for a minute to do our wedding because during the ceremony she had to change two words. She had to change “holy union” to “marriage” …
Gregory: To “holy matrimony.”
Joshua: And she started to tear up on it. And we started to tear up on it.
Gregory: She started crying. We started crying. David started crying — Josh’s dad —it was really emotional. And we found out later that evening … we were over in her home … she said she’s waited her entire life to perform a ceremony like that instead of just a regular holy union.
Amanda: So how does your queerness impact you on a day-to-day basis? Steven: My queerness operates in very different ways when I’m in a professional setting. I’m expected to be in slacks and things that are not form-fitting. Three months into the job, I was told if I wanted to fit in, I needed to […]
Lacey: I identify as bisexual so that means that I am attracted to people of multiple genders. I used to feel like, in queer spaces, that I wasn’t queer enough to be there. I was constantly having this fear that other people were sort of assessing my queerness. It constantly felt like it was insufficient […]
Kristye: I feel like I loved you before our first date, but I didn’t think that was possible. And when I pulled up to meet you, I got out of my car and you got out of your car, and I’ll never forget the look on your face because you … your eyes were real wide, […]
WBHM is proud to partner with StoryCorps for the Great Thanksgiving Listen. This Thanksgiving weekend, StoryCorps will work with teachers and high school students across the country to preserve the voices and stories of an entire generation of Americans over a single holiday weekend. Open to everyone, The Great Thanksgiving Listen is a national assignment […]
Derrick: When I was younger, I remember I was on the playground and I kissed a boy. It wasn’t like anything sexualized or anything like that, but I got in the most trouble I think I ever had in my entire life. I had no perception of what bisexuality was, but I guess that was when I would […]
Jonathan Hankins and partner Maura Barnett are expecting their first child and discuss raising him with their gender nonconforming values. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL
