DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
A day after the Obama administration celebrated a new era in civil rights for the LGBT community, bathing the White House in luminous rainbow-colored hues, a crowd gathered at Morris Cove’s Pardee Seawall in New Haven to witness the marriage of Mischa Johnson (left) and Betty Baisden (right), pillars of the local community who also happen to be a transgender couple.
With a pale, overcast sky rising above Long Island Sound’s horizon, the wedding procession made its way on foot Sunday from the couple’s neat home in the East Shore neighborhood less than a block from the wedding site. A color scheme of navy blue trimmed in white, and bearing a naval skull and anchor motifs, was worn by bridesmaids, reflecting the couple’s avid interest and joy of sailing.
Arriving at the seawall, a lone umbrella of rainbow pride colors rested on the sloping lawn, a fitting symbol of the solidarity and celebration being expressed at the wedding and at celebrations across the nation in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5 – 4 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The ruling also coincided with Pride Weekend (and Pride Month) parades and celebrations, which this year reverberated with victorious chants of “All Fifty States!”
New Haven dancer Luis Antonio (center in photo) offered a gift of dance he called “Butterfly Memory” accompanied by poem recitations by friends.
Officiating at the wedding was cleric Walter Josephson, a close friend of the couple. Josephson observed that the wedding, which had brought together family, friends and a significant contingent of neighbors, is testimony to the couple’s positive impact: “Their marriage will mean a significantly bigger impact as a couple than they could have made as individuals,” he said.
After an exchange of vows and rings, bands finished with an array of rainbow-colored stones, Josephson presented the newlyweds: “It’s a pleasure to introduce to all of you, Mischa and Betty Johnson — wife and wife.”
Standing before the gathering in custom matching white gowns, the couple then led the wedding party back to the reception area, where they were proud to discuss their Yankee thriftiness in having acquired their gowns through a “Chinese connection” on Ebay for under $200 each.
Among the wedding guests were Gender Projected photographer-curators Am Norgren and Reese Ramponi, whose photographic exhibition at New Haven Pride Center last April highlighted gender expression and identity in the LGBTQI community. The couple said their work will be part of “Samesex 2015,” an upcoming group show at Bridgeport’s Citylights Gallery which opens on July 9.
A group of neighbors seated together at the reception had high praise, not only for the newlyweds, but for the neighborhood that embraces them. Neighbor Denise Aksoy (seated left), who lives across the street, recounted an evening when she arrived home late after visiting her ailing husband, who was in the hospital being treated for cancer. “Betty arrived on my doorstep offering hugs of support and a cooler full of food.” Other neighbors seated at the table made it a point to underscore the important role that the Johnson couple plays in uniting a neighborhood they called progressive, inclusive, and welcoming — “New Haven’s best kept secret.”
A Beautiful Transition film crew interviews wedding guest “Chardonnay.”
A film crew representing A Beautiful Transition, a documentary series under development that will tell the stories of trans men and women, conducted interviews throughout the day.
Not all of the guests, however, were keen on being interviewed. They consciously worked at staying out of photographic range. “Jamie” a transgender guest who had earlier said she welcomed last Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling because “people don’t have to hide anymore,” was not quite ready to discount the necessity of caution. Jamie counted as many as 10 friends who had lost jobs after being outed about their gender identities. She said she also continues to look over her shoulder when leaving public places like clubs, having been physically and verbally assaulted on a number of occasions.
Paula Utterback, a friend of the brides, created a batch of mermaid cookies for the occasion.
In many respects, the wedding of Mischa and Betty Johnson was wonderfully ordinary, what wedding guest and friend, “Chardonnay” (pictured above) described as “the new normal.” “A farm kid from Omaha, Nebraska,” as she described herself, Chardonnay recounted her personal story of transition as an African American, sports loving male to female, saying that “Betty and Mischa’s influence and support was like a pebble of humanity cast into the pond.”
“Their wedding,” she said, “is what it’s supposed to be about … It’s just about love.”
The couple then headed on their honeymoon at Nags Head, in the North Carolina Outer Banks.