When photographer Kitty Paul learned that President-elect Donald Trump was headed back to Washington, she wanted to do anything she could to help LGBTQ couples getting married.
“What does this mean for a lot of us?” asked Paul, 41, of Avalon, who is part of the Pittsburgh queer community.
Queer couples across the United States are concerned that marriage equality could be on the chopping block during a second Trump presidency — leading many to speed up their initial marriage timelines to tie the knot before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Paul owns the photography business Requiem Images — one of many wedding vendors in the Pittsburgh region offering up free and/or discounted services until Trump’s inauguration. She and her husband are both ordained, so they can offer full-service elopements.
In 2016 ahead of his first term, Trump said he was “fine” with same-sex marriage as the law of the land, calling the issue “settled” by the Supreme Court, ABC News reported. The makeup of the Supreme Court has changed since then.
Vice President-elect JD Vance said he would vote against the Respect for Marriage Act while campaigning for Senate in 2022, citing religious liberty concerns, according to the outlet.
Under the Respect for Marriage Act, which was signed into law in December 2022, every state is required to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights said this week that existing same-sex marriages cannot be invalidated by any hypothetical change in the law, and for those who aren’t married yet, no action has been taken to overturn the law.
“Even if the Supreme Court were to reverse its marriage equality decision, that would not invalidate existing marriages or change anything in the many states that have adopted the freedom to marry under state law,” the center said.
But, as of now, Republicans hold a 6-3 justice majority of appointees in the highest court — with Trump having nominated three. The president-elect could have the opportunity to bolster that majority during his second term, Reuters reported.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States in 2015, according to Pew Research Center.
Requiem Images offers photography and services for destination weddings and destination elopements, and she said the business has become increasingly queer- and neurodivergent-centered, according to Paul, as inclusivity is very important to her.
After making an Instagram post aimed toward engaged queer couples who “woke up feeling scared and uncertain” after the election, Paul has had eight queer couples in Pittsburgh reach out about either moving up their weddings or scheduling elopements, and there will likely be more from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“My whole entire December changed from helping families take Christmas photos to helping queer couples get married before the inauguration,” she said. “I just want to help as many people as I can through this time — wanted it to be something more than just sign your license and get married pretty fast.”
Requiem Images is offering free 15-minute elopement photo sessions in addition to signing marriage licenses for any couple who feels as if the situation is an “emergency,” Paul said.
Any queer couples who book with Requiem for their wedding next year or after will get a free one-hour elopement before then if need be as well, Paul said.
“After the election, that was devastating, and it was really scary for me as a mom,” said Paul, who has two daughters, with one identifying as queer. “Knowing that people voted consciously against my own rights and the rights of my daughters and the rights of possibly all my children.”
Because so many Pittsburgh wedding vendors are now offering free and/or discounted services, there’s now a private Facebook group where couples can find all of the offers in one place called “Love Is Love 412.” There are also Google forms for vendors and couples interested in weddings in Rylee Louisa Photo’s bio on Instagram.
Maya Lovro is another photographer providing assistance to queer couples looking to get “emergency married.” Lovro, 28, of Mount Oliver, is also ordained in Pennsylvania, and is in the process of becoming ordained in New York.
“We don’t know at this point what the next presidential four years will be,” Lovro said, mentioning an overarching sense of uncertainty in the queer community of possible policies Trump will implement or rescind. “A lot of that fear just comes from not knowing what’s next.”
Five of the six of Lovro’s Pittsburgh spots are already filled, and they said they’re looking to give queer couples the best wedding experience possible amid the circumstances.
“I wish I could take on more, but I’m at the end of my own busy season. That’s why we’ve all connected with each other,” Lovro said of the vendors.
Both Brittany Pavlik of Candid Content Collective and Kelly McCleary of Just Wed Social are offering wedding content creation services for queer couples, but they haven’t had any inquiries for the services as of yet.
Wedding content creation includes photos, videos, highlights, reels and other raw content shot through iPhones for social media, which is a fairly new concept in the wedding vendor community.
Pavlik, 36, of Elizabeth Forward, said she’s offering free content creation for any queer couples doing an elopement through Jan. 20.
“I will take on as many as my schedule allows,” she said.
Pavlik has noticed a sense of worry coming from the queer community, and she said she wanted to be an ally in offering support.
“I wanted to be somebody that could be there for them,” she said. “It just became this communal kind of thing … no one has said anything negative. It’s actually kind of beautiful.”
McCleary, 39, of Monroeville, said anyone interested in free content creation can inquire.
“Whatever the event time is we would be happy to provide that,” she said. “We stand really, really firm in our beliefs that all love is welcome, and we do not tolerate hatred of every kind.”
There are people in the wedding community that McCleary said are not inclusive, which she said is a shame.
“Everybody deserves to be treated with respect,” she said.
As a seamstress in Pittsburgh and owner of Topaz Thimble, Kati Grimes said she usually offers gender-affirming alterations year-round in addition to wedding alterations.
“I’m part of the LGBTQ community … I get it. My clients are very honest with me about how they’re feeling; it honestly was a no-brainer,” she said of stepping up to help. “If you need me, I’m here.”
Though she hasn’t had any inquiries yet, Grimes, 35, of Dormont, said she can offer free standard alteration like picking up straps and hemming on wedding gowns, and taking in wedding jackets, pants and shirts.
“Just seeing everyone like feel amazing in what they’re wearing … my goal period is just to keep a welcoming space — for people to unmask and be themselves,” she said.
Grimes said she’s appreciated the people who have been solution-minded following Trump’s reelection.
“People are just getting together, and they’re ready to fix things,” she said. “I think that’s a huge sign that we’re going to come together for everyone.”
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at [email protected].
