Vaibhav Jain and Parag V. Mehta had the best day of their lives. And they’re now sharing it with all of us, thanks to Brut India.
Back on March 2018, the couple got married in a traditional Indian Wedding… in Texas. The ceremony was attended by friends and family from both the U.S. and India. These wedding attendees watched every traditional step of the wedding. From the grooms wearing mehendi and being given away by their respective parents to the event starting with a Garba/Sangeet. But most importantly, a fun time was had by all and all celebrated the love of two men.
Amazingly, the two are a power couple in the world of health. Vaibhav is a research associated with the American Institutes for Research and an Executive Board member of the South Asian Public Health Association. Meanwhile, Parag is a Senior Vice President at Mastercard and is the former Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the 19th US Surgeon General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
But for Vaibhav, life was an upscale battle to get to those official titles and this happy wedding. Originally from India, Vaibhav had to leave the country because of its anti-gay law Section 377 which criminalized homosexuality. While India has since ruled that colonial-era law as unconstitutional, Vaibhav has already found happiness and peace in America.
“My struggles in India growing up as a gay man were real and often very painful. Parag grew up on the other end of the world in a small town in Central Texas but his experience and struggles were definitely comparable to my own, if not more. For him, growing up as a brown immigrant kid in a white town was a constant struggle of identity. Adding the layer of being a closeted gay guy in a conservative household just made things even harder for him.”
Parag then added to the conversation by saying that they hope to be visual representation for love and acceptance of LGBTQ life.
“Part of what Vaibhav and I (and our parents) have tried to do is to help folks who are skeptical about same-sex relationships see that it’s okay to champion the love between two people,” said Parag. “It’s okay to evolve one’s fixed ideas about marriage, sex and tradition.”
So if you want to get that visual representation, you can check out a recently uploaded video from the wedding down below.
