A man who identifies as gay just tied the knot with his girlfriend of seven years, and in a video posted to TikTok, the couple explained why it's not a "lavender marriage."
Newlyweds Jacob Hoff and Samantha Greenstone recently spoke with the New York Times about their "soulful connection," explaining that despite Hoff being gay, the two knew that their feelings for each other were something very special from the beginning.
“I am gay, and as a gay person, you can keep your identity as that even if your relationship doesn’t match that."
“We have a monogamous relationship. It’s beyond a visual lustful connection. It’s a soulful connection.”
It all began in 2015 when Hoff heard Greenstone's voice for the first time during a callback for Fiddler on the Roof in Escondido, California, for which they both auditioned and booked.
“From the lobby, I heard Samantha’s cackle at the end of the song and instantly thought whoever just made that sound is an immaculate human."
Greenstone had similar strong, albeit confusing, feelings.
“There was a spark and It felt like this magnetism that was so powerful."
‘’It was like someone had found the words to explain our connection and package it in a way that made me finally understand what we had between us.”
In July of 2017, the pair were officially a couple—and last December, the couple got engaged.
On November 25 they became husband and wife.
Given the attention surrounding their relationship and the questions many people have, the newlyweds took to TikTok to explain their relationship, specifically why they don't consider their union a "lavender marriage."
Greenstone first defined the term:
"A lavender marriage is when one partner is heterosexual and one partner is homosexual and the homosexual partner enters the relationship to cover up the fact that they are gay."
But, as Hoff noted:
"That's not what's going on here."
"Clearly, there's no covering up here. I mean, everybody knows."
"The cat's out of the bag. It's pretty obvious."
The two explained, rather, that they are in a "mixed-orientation relationship."
You can watch below.
Viewers of the TikTok congratulated the happy couple and wholeheartedly agreed that love at its core, no matter the composition, is the foundation of a a successful marriage.
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In an Instagram post a few months ago, Hoff explained:
"Samantha is the person I'm connected to spiritually [and] she's my soul partner."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with her and that oftentimes transcends just plain old sexuality."
"We are attracted to each other, we're intimate but it's just on a different level. It's a soulmate connection."
Beautiful.
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