Skip to main content
The Library of Love

Home › Collections ›  Queer wedding readings

Queer wedding readings

A wedding reading should sound like the couple getting married — not a rewritten version of them. These pieces come from queer poets and from writers whose language is generous enough to belong to any couple standing at the aisle.

Warm, sometimes political, always specific — chosen because they celebrate love as it actually shows up.

Queer readings we love

  1. 01

    Book of Genesis

    by Kei Miller, b. 1978

    Untill even silent dreams had been allowed

    Read the full poem →
  2. 02

    How long we were fool'd

    by Walt Whitman, 1819 ~ 1892

    We have voided all but our own freedom, all but our own joy

    Read the full poem →
  3. 03

    I know you know

    by Michelangelo, 1475 ~ 1564

    Let the wall between our hopes and desires be battered down.

    Read the full poem →
  4. 04

    Love from NGC7318

    by Tanerelle, contemporary

    You make me feel like each of the five galaxies swriling in Stephan's Quintet

    Read the full poem →
  5. 05

    Mysteries, yes

    by Mary Oliver, 1935 ~ 2019

    Let me keep company, always, with those who say 'look' and laugh in astonishment and bow their heads.

    Read the full poem →
  6. 06

    Obergefell v Hodges

    by Anthony Kennedy, b. 1936

    Since the dawn of history marriage has transformed strangers into relatives, binding families and societies together

    Read the full poem →
  7. 07

    Song of the Open Road

    by Walt Whitman, 1819 ~ 1892

    I give you myself before preaching or law

    Read the full poem →
  8. 08

    White Writing

    by Carol Ann Duffy, b. 1955

    No poems written to praise you. I write them white.

    Read the full poem →
  9. 09

    Wild Geese

    by Mary Oliver, 1935 ~ 2019

    You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

    Read the full poem →

Choosing your reading

How many readings should we have?

One or two is typical for a shorter ceremony; three works well if you'd like to give more guests a role. Vary the tone so the ceremony doesn't sit on one note.

Who should read?

Choose people whose voices you love hearing — siblings, close friends, a parent, a chosen family member. Send the reading in advance so they can practise.

Keep exploring