“We wanted to show that marriage is great between any two people in love.” — Whitney Mixter


If anyone objects to the marriage of this couple, The Real L Word’s Sara Bettencourt and Whitney Mixter ... well, read this before you speak.

INKED DOESN’T TYPICALLY PUBLISH EDITORIALS because we feel that everybody is entitled to his own view; our magazine’s mission is to bring the community together, not to alienate anyone. However—and you probably knew there was a however coming—we do believe in civil rights. If the magazine had been founded in the 20th century, we would likely have rallied for women’s suffrage and desegregation. We question changes to the Army Uniform Regulations that would ban hand and sleeve tattoos. And when it comes to gay rights, we can’t comprehend why some Americans are denied the right to marry. So, this magazine is using its freedom of expression to point out that the opposition of same-sex marriage is a great injustice.

Since discrimination is often born of ignorance, getting to know a couple in a same-sex marriage may be the first step to supporting same-sex marriage. For that reason, please meet Sara Bettencourt and Whitney Mixter, a married couple of the same gender. They have the same rights as everybody else in the tattoo community except they’re denied the right to have their marriage recognized in every state of this free country.

Bettencourt and Mixter may not be perfect people, and once they move past the honeymoon phase, they might not have the perfect relationship, but their imperfections are what makes them an ideal representation of modern marriage. To see their flaws, you can watch the first two seasons of Showtime’s The Real L Word. To witness their maturation and the culmination of their love, make your way to the third season, the finale of which captured their wedding.