David Harris and Tre’Darrius Anderson are the youngest same sex couple in the United States to get married. The Memphis, Tennessee, natives met on July 2010 and after endless conversations on Twitter, the two were married on January 18, 2013, in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. At the time, the two were just 19 years old. Harris and Anderson discovered they have many things in common; they were raised by single women, are the baby boy of the family, and are gay African American males trying to figure out their place in society.
Earlier this year Harris and Anderson shared their love story on the Canadian reality show “My Teenage Wedding.” Soon afterwards, their wedding video went viral with over 592,000 internet mentions. The couple founded GuysWithPride, an organization dedicated to self-affirmation, dignity, and marriage equality. PrideIndex chatted with the brave couple about growing up, coming out and what’s next.
PRIDEINDEX(PI): What was is like growing up?
TRE’DARRIUS (TRE): We’re both similar in different ways. As we listened to each other’s story, it’s what made us grow closer together over these years of getting to know each other in our relationship. Growing up in Memphis was pretty much the same for us. We both came from a family where there was a mother figure in our life. I was raised by my single mother.
DAVID (DAV): I was raised by my Aunt. We both have three brothers and both are the baby of our family.
PI: When did you first know that you were gay?
DAV: I knew I was gay around 7th grade when a friendship took [a romantic turn] with a guy I was friends with for two years.
TRE: It was around the 6th grade; I thought boys were cute. I used to judge a guy on his looks.
PI: Do your families accept your lifestyle?
DAV: Of course, but it took time for them to come around. Both of our families weren’t too fond of gays.
PI: How did you meet partner?
DAV: I met my husband on twitter; I simply followed him. I kind of stalked his TL [twitter line] until I had the guts to say something to him. Everything went from there.
PI: When did you realize that you were in love with David?
TRE: It was about six months after we started talking. We opened up to each other and soon we were spending every day together. Then he became the love of my life.
PI: Why did you decide to marry Tre’Darrius?
DAV: He wanted to move forward and take a big step in our relationship. I love him and know he will make a great husband and father.
PI: Was the decision to get married a joint decision? If not, who proposed to whom?
TRE: It was a joint decision, but I proposed to David when living in North Carolina.
PI: How did your families and friends react to the news that you were getting married?
TRE: Not so good. Not all of our family members accepted it and not all of them were on board.
PI: Do you guys have plans to start a family of your own someday?
TRE: Yes!!! We’re wishing for twin boys. We plan to name them Evan & Owen.
PI: As the youngest gay couple in the United States, do you feel any obligation to the gay community or to prove to others that you are ready to make this commitment? Why or why not?
DAV: No not at all. Tre’Darrius and I know that we are [going to be] together forever. That’s all that really matters. Who cares if they think we won’t make it.
PI: What’s the one thing that you like most about your partner?
DAV: I like his [Tre’Darrius’] caring ways and his determination to fight for the LGBT community.
TRE: I like his [David’s] personality. He’s genuine and loving.
PI: Did you seek the advice from other same gender loving couples before you decided to get married?
TRE: No, but we did get advice for people who [gave] us great advice for our future.
PI: Your story was featured on the reality television show “My Teenage Wedding” in Canada. Are there plans to air it in the United States?
TRE: Yes, there are plans of the show airing in the U.S., which I can’t speak about right now.
PI: How did you become involved with the Slice reality television show?
TRE: We saw they were casting for the show, so we sent them an email. A few days later, we had an interview. The rest is history.
PI: Talk about your organization GuysWithPride. What do you hope to accomplish?
DAV: GuysWithPride is a part of Army of Pride. When someone joins, he/she will become a cadet and receive an Army of Pride dog tag, sticker, and cadet admission letter. We plan to recruit a million cadets over the next two year. We hope to get a million people to sign a petition to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States.
PI: What else would you like to share?
DAV: Check out our website GuysWithPride, which will be fully operational by early January 2014.
