Despite the taboo of being gay in traditional Indian families and homosexuality being illegal in India, Rishi Agarwal and Daniel Langdon tied the knot in a very traditional ceremony.
Mr Agarwal was brought up in a very traditional Hindu household and his parents had dreamed of throwing a huge wedding for their son, alongside Rishi himself sharing his parents vision.
The family relocated from India to Canada in the 1970s however their mindset stayed the same.
Rishi spoke about a gay Sikh student who committed suicide after his parents refused to accept his sexual orientation, and dreaded that he would never have his dream wedding with his family and friends.
After he told his parents about his sexuality, Vijay and Sushma Agarwal were both stunned, obviously not expecting this.
Nonetheless, despite Rishi’s worst fears, his parents accepted him with open arms and an open mind, after spending three days learning about LGBT issues.
When he asked if they wanted him to leave their home, his parents said: “You’re still out son and we love you”.
They added that they blamed their own ignorance. His mother, Sushma said: “This is strictly our baggage, what we bring from India.”
So Rishi finally married Dan, after they met in 2011, performing all of the cultural traditions of a Hindu wedding, surrounded by loved ones, making all of their dreams come true.
CREDIT: Sukhbir Channa Photography
On his big day, Rishi proclaimed: “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could have the wedding that I wanted with the person I loved and with all my family and my friends.”
The couple wanted to share their story to display how important acceptance is and how families can unite to celebrate a gay wedding just as they would any other couple.
Rishi said: “In order to run a lot of those ceremonies, you really need everyone, the community’s involvement, otherwise it doesn’t really work.”
He added: “Unfortunately, others have not had that support in their lives.”
CREDIT: Sukhbir Channa Photography
