Quynh and Yennie had been together for nearly 10 years before they were married, but a large chunk of that was in secret. Not only were they a same sex couple in a country not quite prepared to grant same sex couples the same rights as the rest of us, they were a same sex couple from migrant families. Coming from Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese backgrounds, they had additional cultural barriers to breakdown – I haven’t had the same experiences around my sexuality but I understand what those barriers feel like.

A few years ago, Quynh sat her brother down and told her that she loved Yennie. Her brother said that he was so proud of her for sharing her truth and for being able to live authentically. But of course, life is always more complicated than that and Yennie and Quynh navigated their own struggles.

But Yennie’s now passed grandfather said it best. He was 85 years of age, an old school guy from a conservative culture in a far away land and a generation not used to these kinds of modern ideas around love. Despite this, he felt that life was better to be shared with someone you loved, regardless of whether they be the same or different gender to you.