Some regard Valentine’s Day as the “girl’s holiday” in which men are expected to get something for the lady in their life, but for same-sex female couple Keyana Bruce and Nukea Watson, it’s a two way street.
“I feel like it’s a holiday for the more femme girls, which would be her,” Watson said. “I don’t expect her to get me anything.”
Watson is a first year transfer student in the criminal justice program and the self-described “stud” of the couple, meaning the more masculine one. The term “femme” describes a lesbian with more feminine qualities.
Keyana Bruce, a sophomore in the nursing program, disagreed with Watson and said the celebration of Valentine’s Day or any holiday should be a mutual exchange between partners.
“I don’t expect anything from her either,” Bruce said, “but she always comes up with something, and eventually I reciprocate. I feel like every holiday, things should be given both ways. It should never just be a one-way thing.”
Watson said for this upcoming Valentine’s Day the couple had no specific plans, a claim which Bruce says she doesn’t believe.
“She’s plotting something,” Bruce said, staring down Watson. “I can always tell.”
Watson and Bruce began dating on Dec. 16, 2012. They met at a party thrown by Bruce’s cousin and began their relationship a day later.
Bruce and Watson are currently engaged to be married. The exact time of the proposal remains a spot of contention.
“It was on April 20, 2013, at around 5 p.m. when she proposed,” Bruce said.
Watson shook her head in disagreement.
“It was 2:30,” Watson said. “I’ve got the whole thing recorded.”
The wedding is planned for this summer and is described by Bruce as “medium sized” in terms of attendance. Bruce said her family is happy for her and her mother in particular is “thrilled” about the upcoming wedding. Watson, on the other hand, isn’t planning on telling her family about her engagement.
The state of Michigan currently enforces a ban on same-sex marriage, but the case is being reviewed later this month.
Watson and Bruce are both open on campus and said that, thus far, campus has been very
receptive of their relationship.
“We’ve never had anything bad happen on campus,” Watson said. “I don’t think a lot of people our age care very much.”
Despite being labeled as the “girl’s holiday,” Valentine’s Day seems to work the same regardless of the genders of the couple celebrating.