A Gay Groom Married His Girlfriend After 7 Years Together — Why They Don't Consider Their Relationship a Lavender Marriage

Mar. 15, 2025

Samantha Greenstone and Jacob Hoff.Photo:Samatha Wynn Greenstone/Instagram

Samatha Wynn Greenstone/Instagram

Samantha GreenstoneandJacob Hoffofficially tied the knot.

Greenstone, 37, and Hoff, 31, took their relationship to the next level as they married on Nov. 25 in Boca Raton, Fla. during an intimate wedding ceremony. The pair spoke about their “pure love story” with theNew York Timesin a feature published on Dec. 6, giving backstory on their unconventional romance which they have documented with their followers on social media through the years.

“I am gay, and as a gay person, you can keep your identity as that even if your relationship doesn’t match that,” Hoff explained. “We have a monogamous relationship. It’s beyond a visual lustful connection. It’s a soulful connection.”

Samantha Greenstone and Jacob Hoff.Samatha Wynn Greenstone/Instagram

Both Greenstone and Hoff work as actors and first met at callbacks forFiddler on the Roofin Escondido, Calif. in November 2015, where he first heard Greenstone’s performance.

They both landed roles in the show and quickly developed a close friendship, which eventually blossomed into deeper feelings for one another. Greenstone noted she was “living in utter confusion” over her feelings for Hoff and went to an energy healer for advice, who claimed they “share a spiritual umbilical cord.”

“There was a spark and It felt like this magnetism that was so powerful," Greenstone explained. ‘’It was like someone had found the words to explain our connection and package it in a way that made me finally understand what we had between us.”

Greenstone texted Hoff later that day and eventually confirmed that they both had deeper feelings for one another. They made their relationship official in July 2017 and gotengaged in December 2023.

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Since their engagement, the pair have been open about their relationship on social media and questions people have about their romance. One of the major misconceptions they have addressed is that they’re in a “lavender marriage.”

“A lavender marriage is when one partner is heterosexual and one partner is homosexual and the homosexual partner enters the relationship to cover up the fact that they are gay,” Greenstone explained in aTikTokposted on Nov. 22.

Hoff clarified, “That’s not what’s going on here,” noting “there’s no covering up” the fact that he’s gay. Instead, they explained that they’re in a “mixed-orientation relationship.”

In another video posted toInstagramon Aug. 27, Hoff spoke about why he decided to marry a woman despite identifying as gay, explaining, “Samantha is the person I’m connected to spiritually [and] she’s my soul partner.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with her and that oftentimes transcends just plain old sexuality,” he continued. “We are attracted to each other, we’re intimate but it’s just on a different level. It’s a soulmate connection.”

source: people.com