A Lesbian Summer Romance

I was born Tiffany Snow, but I’ll proudly leave this world as Mrs. Tiffany Snow-Forrester;

A name I’ll carry with love, pride, and a lifetime of memories.

To say I grew up with a healthy example of love and marriage would be an absolute lie.

I was raised in a nuclear family consisting of myself, my younger brother, and my heterosexual parents. Although my father wasn't deeply religious, faith was important to my mother and her family. That said, I grew up in the Anglican Church and eventually served as an altar girl from puberty until I left Jamaica at 18 years old.

I distinctly recall my decision to voluntarily enroll as an altar girl in an effort to feel "closer to God."

Jamaica, being a conservative and predominantly Christian country, impacted me in ways I never realized until much later. I did, however, always feel like I was missing out on something when others would cheerfully describe their experiences with faith and their church communities. I couldn't ever feel a closeness to God, but I was dedicated to at least trying to achieve this through service.

It was going well until my inner world began to rise more into my consciousness.

One Sunday, I invited my high school best friend to my church to witness my duties as an altar girl. As I sat during the quiet moments of the service, it dawned on me that I had invited my crush into my place of worship. This was probably my first experience of gay panic.

This is when it became more evident to me that I needed to try much harder to pray the gay away.

Having these feelings for the same sex in a country that is wickedly homophobic felt like a death sentence. I made up my mind that I would never get married for 2 reasons:

1.I didn't want to be sentenced to a lifetime of misery (from what I've witnessed) and I also felt

2. I knew in my bones I could NEVER marry a man.

Thankfully, the rights and freedoms I inherited through my Canadian life allowed me to begin accepting a version of me I never thought would ever be free.

The love that I have since been able to experience is one I hope my kids will one day witness.

To leave this world healing another generation would be a HUGE accomplishment.

But before getting to the point of celebrating our Lesbian Summer Romance, we first chose to brave. Brave enough to live in our truth even if that meant leaving behind people, places, and connections that had long been intertwined into our stories.

But we were especially brave in committing ourselves to a journey of loving one another in a way we had never witnessed love before.

We were brave in learning kindness, respect, and selflessness. We were brave in embracing our love for one another and accepting our worthiness to experience this beautiful gift of a life together. That is the truest form of our bravery- allowing ourselves to believe that we can be loved. We are deserving of love.