This past Saturday I went down to the bay area to attend a commitment ceremony for my friend Mark and his significant other Wil. I had never been to a gay wedding before so I really didn't know what to expect. It was pretty much like a regular marriage ceremony except there was no bride only 2 grooms. Some of you might wonder why I would attend this type of an event because I'm LDS and we don't condone homosexuality, well I will tell you. I have been friends with Mark for 30 years, although he didn't come out to me until about 20 years ago. My friendship with him has nothing to do with his sexual orientation, in the same way that my being Mormon has nothing to do with his being my friend.
Mark and I met when he was 12 and I was 14. His family moved into my neighborhood around the corner from me. My friends and I met him the day he moved in and we became friends from that day forward. Yes we may disagree on many things, from politics to religion but that never mattered to us or changed our friendship. We were best friends all the way up until I graduated high school and moved up to the Sacramento area. Over the years we have not stayed as close as we once were as children, but we've always kept in touch and have visited each other on many different occasions.
I met Marks significant other about 2 years ago when I went down to visit with Mark before I moved to Utah. The next time I saw him was on Saturday. They both looked happy and I am happy for them. It was good to see Marks family as well. I haven't seen them since I went down for the funeral of his mother. She was a sweet woman and I was truly sorry that she passed away. I am going to post a few pictures from the commitment ceremony. I didn't get many pictures and most of my pictures are not very good but they are all I have. By the way Mark is the one with no hair and Wil is the one with hair.



This picture is of Marks Dad Alex.