“Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett and fiancé Jaymes Vaughan are excited to head down the aisle—but their journey to the altar hasn’t been without some rough spots. In a new interview with The Knot, the couple opened up about being discriminated against due to their sexuality. The interviewer asked the couple if they’ve thought about selecting wedding vendors that align with their values, and they shared that one venue rejected them entirely.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you don’t just need to feel safe—you need to feel celebrated. For years, we planned to get married at Palace Resorts in Mexico. When we got engaged, the owner said he couldn’t marry us because we’re two men and it goes against his morals. That was a sucker punch to the gut,” Jonathan said. “We decided in that moment that our wedding was bigger than us. It’s our wedding, but it isn’t just about us. It’s about the LGBTQ+ community. We’re really making a point to make this wedding very loud on purpose,” he continued. Jaymes added, “We knew we could go to the UNICO Hotel, because on social and in their marketing, they have shown us that we’re welcome there. When we first started talking about having our wedding there, they were excited for us, which is what everyone’s wedding is supposed to be.”
Jonathan expressed that their main priority is ensuring their wedding is a safe and joyful space, saying, “We want to make sure that there’s never a moment during the engagement or wedding planning journey that LGBTQ+ people aren’t excited. We want to make sure that they are celebrated every moment and don’t feel a sense of otherness. The otherness needs to be removed from gay weddings.” Jaymes proposed to Jonathan back in November, giving the actor the surprise of a lifetime. “When I saw Jaymes take a knee I was so excited I just started hysterically screaming because I didn’t know how to express myself properly,” Jonathan told People. “There was a moment when you feel like ‘Oh, this is forever, I understand it.’ I screamed ‘Yes’ immediately. Actually it was, ‘Yes! Of course!’” [gallery_id value=215279 post_id=215279] Access Hollywood’s podcast “The Vault” features decades worth of A-list interviews and never-before-heard moments with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Listen now!
