Lena Waithe is a married woman! The Queen & Slim writer recently revealed that she and fiancée Alana Mayo quietly tied the knot at a San Francisco courthouse.
“We snuck and did it,” the Emmy winner revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to guest host John Legend. “You know, we didn’t make any announcements.”
According to Waithe, they hadn’t pre-planned the ceremony. It was completely off the cuff and just felt right.
“We went to San Francisco. We went to the courthouse. Got married right in front of [LGBTQ acitivist] Harvey Milk’s bust. It was her idea, as all good things are,” Waithe explained. “She was just driving and she saw the courthouse and she said, ‘We should get married there.’ And I said, ‘Cool, I’m down.'”
The location of their spontaneous wedding holds significance not only for the couple but also for the entire LGBT community. It was the place where Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official, was assassinated in 1978, and where riots took place immediately following his death. In 2004, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, which eventually led to the legalization of marriage in California.
This history wasn’t lost on Waithe and Mayo. In fact, Waithe says its what made their wedding day all the more enriching.
“It was a humbling day, you know, to marry someone so amazing,” she tells Legend. “But also to really appreciate all the work that so many people have put in for us to be able to do that.”
Waithe and Mayo dated for three years before becoming engaged Thanksgiving day 2017. In an interview with Complex, Waithe reveals she opted for engagement sneakers instead of a ring. “There was a particular brand that is only available in Tokyo and they don’t sell anymore in the states. She was like, ‘I want to give you these pair of sneakers.’ And I was like ok, cool! They are my engagement sneakers and I only wear them on special occasions.”
Congratulations to the happy couple. Hear Waithe’s sitdown with Legend below.
