When #LoveRules, we can be #FreeToLove

It all starts with a smile. The kind that just lights up the room and draws your eyes with its warmth and intensity. A dimple on the cheek, a shy bite of the upper lip and you’re drawn. Undeniably, irresistibly. As attraction pulls you closer together, the next thing you know, love begins. In an ideal world, this would be followed by a happy ever after.

This world might be many things, but ideal it is not. In a behavioral research undertaken in Brazil, India, and the Philippines, 3 out of 5 young people shared that they feel that they don’t have the freedom to love whoever they want. Despite living in a modern world, society still dictates what love should be and whom they should and should not love. They are being constrained by a society that judges couples with differences in age, gender, social classes, and even the way they met.  These are the barriers that hold people back from experiencing the most beautiful feeling in the world.

It is no different for some couples in the Philippines, like indoor cyclist EG Bautista and his partner Gino Santos. “The biggest barrier we encountered was because it was a same-sex relationship; it’s not the norm.” says EG. “And when things aren’t the norm, people tend to judge you or have this prejudice against you.” However, going public with their relationship was made easier with the support of their families and close friends.

Couples who are from different social classes also raise negative criticisms. As a youth interviewed from the same behavioral study says, “The rich cannot marry the poor. Although you can do it nowadays but you’d still feel discrimination.” The same is felt by those with huge age gaps between partners or those in cross-cultural relationships. Most of the time, the influence of parents and friends is a significant factor in making these kinds of relationships work.

A lot of young couples that are in unconventional relationships are afraid of judgment, discrimination, and public shame. But love shouldn’t be censored, nor shaped into something that will meet everyone’s approval. It should not have rules because, ultimately, #LoveRules. It is a right, not a privilege, and it is for everyone. Only when love truly rules can we all be #FreeToLove. 

So what does it take to make love rule this time and age?

EG Bautista, actresses Andi Eigenmann and Issa Pressman, together with radio DJ and host Katz Salao, are among those who took a stand. In an empowering event that spread closeness and strength, Closeup’s #FreeToLove movement brought together people who all let love rule in their own lives. In an open discussion, the guests shared initial barriers to their relationships and how they overcame it. Watch more inspiring moments from Closeup’s event in the video below: 

Acceptance is powerful. When you accept people for who they are, you let them know that they are safe and free to be themselves. When you accept their choices, you give them courage and strength to fight for their happiness.

As Katz Salao puts it, the only rule in love is what you make for yourself. “It’s always about how you feel and your happiness…even if it’s not what the “norm” suggests.” Katz says. “Because in the end, when you are free to love and when you are so open about it, you allow other people around you to be free to love as well.”

Now more than ever, we need to do our part to promote closeness. Give your support to family members, friends, and even strangers who might be in these unconventional relationships. Let them feel that they are free to date, free to marry, free to choose their partners, #FreeToLove without fear, doubt, or judgement. Let’s not stop until #LoveRules.