Love Wins: The Couples Who Show Us Why the Fight Mattered

In 2014, when marriage equality became law in South Carolina, it wasn’t about headlines.

It was about this.

It was about couples building homes.

It was about community.

It was about belonging.

It was about being able to say “I do” — openly, legally, and without fear.

This Valentine’s season, as we celebrate the progress made in our state, we’re honored to share stories from couples whose lives reflect what marriage equality truly means.

Their stories are the reason we fought. Their love is the reason we continue.

Jess and Jess on their wedding day

Jess & Jess: Building a Life — and a Family — in Columbia

Jess and Jess met years ago in Georgia.

What began as a friendship slowly grew into something more. Over time, they chose each other — and eventually chose South Carolina — moving to the Midlands to build a new life together.

Here in Columbia, they found not only a home, but a community.

When they decided to get married, they invited friends and family to celebrate with them in their new home. It wasn’t just a ceremony — it was a declaration: this is where we belong. Surrounded by loved ones (and with a little help coordinating the big day), they began their married life grounded in community and joy.

Today, Jess and Jess are deeply invested in the place they call home. They are advocates. They are engaged in their community. They cheer on the Gamecocks and Bulldogs. They show up.

And now, their love is growing in a new way — they’re expecting a baby later this year.

Their story reminds us that equality isn’t abstract. It creates stability. It creates belonging. It creates families.

This is what love winning looks like.

Chase & Michael: Growing Up Together

Michael and Chase met at a student government meeting during their freshman year at Anderson University.

What started as a college connection in 2010 turned into years of love, long distance, and growing up together.

They built careers.They welcomed their pup, Paxton — affectionately known as “the Puglisher.”They navigated the journey of becoming more open about their relationship with friends and family.

In May 2024, in Lake Como, surrounded by beauty and intention, a Taylor Swift–inspired proposal marked a new chapter. 💍

A year later, they were married in Charleston over Memorial Day weekend — a celebration filled with love and support.

Today, they are happier and closer than ever. Their story reflects something powerful: the freedom to love openly allows relationships to grow with confidence. It allows couples to dream bigger, celebrate louder, and build futures without hiding.

Symone & Beau O'Bishop: Elevated by love

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.”

Symone and Beau O’Biship embody that truth.

They believe that “the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” And for them, having been found by love has been the greatest elevation of their lives.

Each new day together is an opportunity — to grow, to serve, to pursue their ordained purposes.

Their relationship is rooted in something deeper than legality alone. It is spiritual. It is intentional. It is transformative.

Marriage equality didn’t create their love — but it affirmed it.

And affirmation matters

It tells couples like Symone and Beau that their destiny is not second-class. Their union is not conditional. Their love is worthy of recognition.

Yair & Rene: A Simple Story — And a Powerful One

Together since 2012 and married in 2017, Yair and Rene have built a life together in Columbia, South Carolina.

A life grounded in joy.

In support.

In the privilege of showing their love openly.

With their families, friends, and their pup Elio cheering them on, they spend their days traveling, camping, hiking, antiquing, and savoring the small moments that keep them connected.

“It’s a simple story,” they say. “But it’s ours, and we’re grateful for every chapter.”

And that simplicity is powerful.

Because for years, LGBTQ+ couples were denied the ability to build simple lives. To share openly. To have their partnerships recognized.

Yair and Rene’s life together — quiet, joyful, steady — is exactly what equality makes possible.

Alma & Marcy: Choosing Love Every Day

Alma and Marcy are two Mexican women who believe love isn’t just something you find, but

it’s something you choose and nurture every single day.

They have been together for 12 years and married for nearly four. Through joy and through challenge, they continue to choose each other, loving selflessly, growing together, and strengthening the bond that makes them soulmates.

For Alma and Marcy, visibility is part of that love.

Showing up authentically.Loving out loud.Reminding others that lasting, committed LGBTQ+ love exists and thrives.

Their marriage is more than a legal recognition. It is a daily commitment rooted in culture, resilience, and devotion. It is proof that love crosses borders, languages, and expectations.

Marriage equality made it possible for Alma and Marcy to stand proudly in their commitment — not hidden, not diminished, but affirmed.

Their story reminds us that equality isn’t just about the right to marry. It’s about the freedom to live visibly. To choose each other openly. To build a life rooted in love and community.

They are soulmates.

And their love, it is steadfast, visible, and chosen every day. This is exactly what we fought for.

This Is What We Fought For

When marriage equality became law in South Carolina, it was more than a legal shift. It was the fulfillment of a promise — a promise that LGBTQ+ couples could build families grounded in dignity, safety, and recognition. It was a promise that love would no longer be treated as lesser, and that belonging in our home state would not depend on who you love.

Today, that promise lives in real lives and real homes across South Carolina. It lives in Jess and Jess as they build their family in Columbia. It lives in Chase and Michael as they celebrate a future they once had to imagine quietly. It lives in Symone and Beau, who speak of love as destiny and devotion. It lives in Yair and Rene, whose joyful, simple life together is entirely their own. And it lives in Alma and Marcy, who love out loud and show the world that lasting, visible LGBTQ+ love thrives.

These stories are not abstract victories or distant court rulings. They are homes filled with laughter, wedding days surrounded by friends, families cheering from the sidelines, quiet mornings, shared dreams, and babies on the way. They are ordinary, beautiful moments made possible because equality became law.

This is what we fought for.

And while we celebrate how far we’ve come, we know the broader work of protecting LGBTQ+ equality continues. The freedom to love openly must be defended in our laws, in our communities, and in the everyday spaces where belonging matters most.

This Valentine’s season, as we lift up these stories, we recommit ourselves to protecting the promise that made them possible — and to ensuring that future couples can build their lives here without fear or limitation.

Because love wins — not by accident, but because we fight for it. And together, we will make sure it keeps winning.

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