Mean Girls icon Jonathan Bennett and his fiancé Jaymes Vaughan were turned away from their dream wedding venue because they’re gay, the couple has claimed.
Bennett, who played heartthrob Aaron Samuels, a jock who knows when 3 October is, opened up about getting engaged in December to The Knot for the magazine’s “Pride and Joy” issue.
The 39-year-old to-be-wed said that he and Vaughan dreamt for years of getting married at a sun-splashed luxury Palace Resorts property in Mexico.
But the resort owner, he alleged, refused to let the happy couple book the venue because they’re gay.
“When we got engaged, the owner said he couldn’t marry us because we’re two men and it goes against his morals,” Bennett claimed.
“That was a sucker punch to the gut. We decided in that moment that our wedding was bigger than us.
“It’s about the LGBT+ community. We’re really making a point to make this wedding very loud on purpose.”
Jonathan Bennett bins the wedding rulebook as he prepares to marry Jaymes Vaughan
In being dealt a blow to their wedding plans, Bennett and Vaughan have since booked at the UNICO Hotel, an LGBT-inclusive resort nestled along the Riviera Maya.
And encountering alleged homophobia has only proved to them how important and defiant the act of getting married can still be for countless queer folk.
“We want to make sure that there’s never a moment during the engagement or wedding planning journey that LGBT+ people aren’t excited,” Vaughan, who hosts Celebrity Page, explained.
“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.”
“We’re breaking away from tradition a bit, because what’s the point?” Bennett reflected.
“It’s your wedding. You can do whatever you want. There are no rules. We only think there are rules.”
In throwing out the wedding rulebook, Bennett said they’re not having groomsmen or best men – just “best girls and guys” instead – and are ditching the “not seeing each other on our wedding day” tradition.
“He’s my best friend,” Bennett said.
“If I don’t see him before the wedding, who am I going to talk to? As much as we are fiancés, we’re best friends first.”
PinkNews contacted Palace Resorts for comment.