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The civil partnership of Viviana and LynneViviana Archer-Todde and Lynne Calvert made history on 21 December 2005 when they became the first lesbian couple in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to marry. Yet neither thought such an occasion would ever be possible in their lifetimes ...
December 21 2005 was a momentous day. At cities and towns across the UK, gay couples swept down the aisle and into the history books.
Among them were Viviana Archer-Todde and Lynne Calvert - the first lesbian couple in Bradford - who did it with parental blessing.
"It makes me so happy to feel we did it and stood up to be counted," said Lynne, a 45-year-old creative director for an agency in Bradford.
"My parents were both delighted and excited to be making history. They were also delighted to have a daughter-in-law."
The two women had met at a lesbian disco in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, almost exactly seven years earlier.
Friends had been trying to pair them up for ages but both fought shy of a blind date. When they did finally meet, they realised their friends knew them better than they knew themselves.
"Lynne and I chatted all night followed by nine hours on the phone the next day," said Viviana, a 46-year-old community cohesion officer for Calderdale Borough Council.
Today they live together in Thornton, Bradford, with Viviana’s two grown-up children and their three cats.
Both Viviana and Lynne had always known they were gay when they were growing up.
"I thought that all women felt for other women but that one day a man would come along and change it all," said Viviana. "He never did."
Lynne remembers having strong feelings for women as a five-year-old girl but when she became a teenager, she started dating boys.
"I wanted to conform or fit in with people around me," she said.
Neither, though, was ever ashamed of her sexuality.
"I just could not identify with being a lesbian at all," said Viviana. "It's so much easier nowadays."
For Lynne, her sexuality has always been simply a natural part of who she is.
"I was worried about how it would change people's view of me but even then I thought it was their problem not mine and, if it came to it, I knew they were not true friends if they could not accept me," she said.
After almost five years together - and with no prospect of gay marriage on the horizon - they held a commitment ceremony on May 24, 2003 at Todmorden Town Hall in front of 127 people.
A further 170 joined them for the evening celebrations.
"We wanted to show people who mattered to us that we were acknowledging our relationship and the importance of our love for each other," said Viviana.
By comparison, their civil partnership ceremony - on 21 December 2005 - was a low-key affair. "We would have loved to have had our siblings there with their families but we knew they would feel that they had to get us another present and it would be costly just before Christmas with B&B stays," said Viviana.
Instead they made their vows in front of Viviana's two teenage children and Lynne's mum and dad. Viviana's parents, sadly, are dead.
"The ceremony really was the icing on the cake and very emotional as I think neither of us thought we would see legislation change in our lifetime," said Lynne.
Their colleagues and immediate neighbours were equally thrilled. "I have been very lucky with my experiences with people regarding my sexuality," said Lynne.
As for changing their names, that's not an issue either.
"My surname is hyphenated. Anyway so I didn't want to add another to the collection," said Viviana.
"It would not make us any closer and I would not have dreamed of asking Lynne if she wanted to change her surname." |   Follow Our Recent Tweets
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