‘Falling in love with another black man was scary in ways neither of us could have ever imagined’
The Instagram account @TheWayWeMet shares beautiful stories from couples. Alongside each picture is a description of how they met.
A posting that went up earlier today is already set to go viral after racking up 14,000 likes in ten hours. Nick met Dominic when they were 14 and 16 respectively.
Dom and Nick
‘Dominic and I met as teenagers,’ they say alongside the image, which was taken at a Pulse memorial event.
‘We went to different high schools but they were close in proximity, so we had a lot of mutual friends.
‘High school was also the time period in which we both came out to our families, although at separate times and unknowingly of each other’s personal journeys.
‘After graduating high school, life took me and Dominic in different directions. He went on to attend UCF in Orlando while I went to college in Kentucky.
‘We reconnected one summer when I was in Orlando helping a friend move into her dorm and asked Dominic to have dinner with me. That night we talked for four hours and shut down the restaurant. Shortly after, Dominic asked if we could make it official and so our long distance relationship began. But the distance wouldn’t be ending anytime soon.
‘After college, I moved to New York for work and Dominic moved to D.C. to go to law school at Georgetown University. Finally, after seven years of the back and forth, we are finally living together in Brooklyn… and engaged!
‘Dominic and I feel lucky to have found love at such a young age. However, falling in love with another black man was scary in ways neither of us could have ever imagined.
‘It forced us to face the very real resistance from society for being not only homosexuals but black men as well. We had to confront the stereotypes of being largely defined as uneducated, disloyal, untrustworthy, and unreliable individuals.
‘But together we chose to rise above those prejudices and rewrite our own story- one of inspiration.
‘We want others to see that our union is marked by achievement, love, friendship, respect, and unconditional support. We hope to encourage other black and brown men and boys everywhere to be true to who they are. And when they find love in each other’s eyes, to know that their love is just as strong and beautiful as anyone else’s.’
Summer wedding
The posting has had hundreds of comments already, and amazingly, all of them have been supportive and complimentary.
Dom and Nick are due to get married on 7 July 2017, according to their own Instagram account (@dom_and_nick).
They got engaged in London in October 2015 while Dominic was living there as part of a study abroad program through his law school.
On the response to the Instagram posting, Nick told GSN,
‘Dominic went to school in Orlando and Pulse was the gay bar where he really came into his own gay identity so the tragedy really hit home for us.
‘It is amazing to see the response touching so many people. We’ve been fortunate enough to have both straight and gay couples reach out to us and let us know how touch they are by our love: Which to us reinforces that love can breed more love.
‘As Black and gay men living in America we don’t often see positive representations that speak to both parts of ourselves. It’s why we decided to create our account to show others (especially young LGBTQ people of color) that they can live their whole truth and be happy and in love together.’
Family support
Nick says that although Dominic’s family had been supportive ‘from day one’, his own father took some time coming around to the news that his son was gay when he came out in 2010.
‘For me I made a very conscious decision to not hide my relationship with Dominic once we started dating. That made me happier and help me strengthen the love I had for myself and other LGBTQ people.
‘Eventually my dad came around on his own time and we have since strengthened our relationship and are closer than we ever were before. I think that is because know he can see all of me and just how happy my life makes me.
‘Both of our families have been very supportive throughout the entire planning process of our wedding and are looking forward to sharing that moment with our closest friends when we say I Do in a few weeks in Miami.’
Congratulations, guys!
