Parag Mehta and Vaibhav Jain, the Indian gay couple decided to tie the knot in 2019 after living together for 6 years. Though India had decriminalised Homosexual relation, it has not yet legalised same sex marriage. The couple planned An Ideal Gay Indian Wedding at US in 2019.
The pictures from the wedding show that it was no less than The Big Fat Indian Wedding.
Vaibhav Jain who took the responsibilities of the wedding said, “We wanted to show how serious we are and how a same-sex wedding can be done. We deserve the same respect as a heterosexual couple.”
Though the wedding was one of its kind, what was much eye grabbing was the groom Parag Mehta’s father’s toast. Parag’s father gave a speech that was honest and moving. Here is what he said in the speech!
“I was a very homophobic person. There is no question about it. So, I thought it was no big deal. I’ll fix him. I’ll give him the best treatments and take him to the best treatment centre in the country and that I’ll find the cure for it and I’ll handle it.
This is my first gay wedding by the way. I think it will also be the first gay wedding you all are attending. Back in 1997. I was one of the luckiest fathers around. My son was a valedictorian, spelling bee champion, playing the great role of Romeo, he actually fooled me when he was playing the role of both Romeo and Juliet. He never got into any mess. Everybody else had a girlfriend but he did not. So, I said my son Parag is such a pure guy and that I was lucky. Parag was doing everything. He was so passionate about people. I used to tell that god has blessed me with an amazing child. He used to perform Bharatnatyam and take part in various events. There was not too many competition so he had a chance to do everything. It was the best of the time but turned in to the worst of the time.
On 27 March at 04:15 p.m. on Friday Parag gave a small speech. He said, “Mom & Dad, I’m Gay. I have known about it since the age of 10. I thought I was confused but now I am begging to realize that I’m Gay. I thought I will hide from you and mom until you die so that you will not be embarrassed. I tried to commit suicide when I was high school.”
Parag’s father breaks the emotional moment on his speech by saying that Parag was very wimpy and he would not be able to that. He continues saying that the weekend after Parag came out, he went into a medical library and pulled out all the cumulus medicus which has all the articles about LGBTQ. Parag’s father said, “In 30 minutes I realised that the American Psychological Association back in 1973 that being gay was not a disease or defect; It is not to be cured or it is not contagious.” Parag’s father said that he asked a question to himself then. “Do I love my son any less than at 04:31 p.m. than I did at 04:24p.m.?” And a few minutes later Parag’s father decided that his love for his son could never change based on whether being gay or not. He ended his toast by accepting his homophobia and his growth to accepting a person and wished happiness for his son.
Here is the video of the toast!
Though the wedding happened in 2019, the video recently became viral on social media and has been receiving a lot of positive reactions.