A Californian wedding photography business called Urloved has responded to the request of a groom to photograph his impending wedding. As Jezabel reports, Urloved declined the request, charmingly replying that the couple were “not the best match” for the business.
“Fair enough!” you might say. “A wedding is a uniquely personal event and honesty from a company who would normally gobble up the chance at cash is a good thing”.
Except that it is not fair enough.
Because Urloved declined to fulfil this request because the groom’s fiancé is a man — and the people running Urloved are bigots.
“We feel that photographing a gay wedding is not the best match for us, however we can refer you to a colleague who would make a great match,” the response read.
“Her name is [redacted]. You can find her work at [redacted]. Let her know urloved Photography sent you and she’ll take good care of you!”
Now this response it confusing.
After all, Urloved’s business is to take pictures of people getting married.
I would’ve thought that all one would need to make a client a good match was a desire to a) get married and b) spend some money on photos. I certainly wouldn’t have thought that a “great match” required prospective clients to have a penis and a vagina between them.
Despite the email’s best wishes and liberal peppering of exclamations marks, it is not just some innocuous rejection of a booking.
No, this is a prime example of casual homophobia. Everyday homophobia that doesn’t intend to be hurtful or offend and can sometimes even be well intentioned – but to an LGBT person, it still hurts.
You might think that something like this is relatively harmless. LGBT rights have, after all, come a long way in recent years. The march toward marriage equality is slowly becoming a reality in much of the west; people can openly serve in militaries, including in Australia’s since 1993; and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, one of the world’s most powerful companies and most recognisable brands, came out publicly last week.
Despite these examples, behaviour like that of Urloved’s proprietors illustrates just how pervasive homophobia still is. Yes, this specific case happened in faraway California, but make no mistake, homophobia of its kind is faced on a daily basis by LGBT people all over Australia.
Top Comments
What if this photographer just isn't sure how to pose a gay couple so recommended them someone who would be able to? I wouldn't want someone inexperienced to take my wedding photos and they might have thought that by recommending them to someone who does know how they were saving them from substandard shots.
We are all discriminated against in some way or other every day of our life. Studies have shown that the more 'attractive' you are the better you are treated. People judge you on what you where, how you speak, education level etc etc . It's important to have anti discrimination laws so this doesn't become systemic in our society but let's not jump to conclusions all the time either - they were told they weren't 'a good fit' and politely given a referral. Maybe what they wanted didn't fit the photographic style of that photographer or yes maybe they just weren't comfortable photographing a gay wedding. But they were decent enough to be polite & considerate about it. Remember we are only hearing 1 side of the story. I think it unrealistic & unfair to expect everyone to have to pander to everyone else's beliefs, lifestyle choices etc.. But I think we all have a duty to be respectful & kind to each other - look past all 'that' to the humanity within each & all of us.