Same-Sex Marriages for Russians (On Blockchain, via Utah)

Rights for LGBTQ individuals in Russia today are all but non-existent, so the very idea of same-sex marriage in a Putin regime seems ludicrous.

Yet, to start this heart-warming piece on an all too-appropriate cliche, love finds a way.

“Before I met Amelia, I was kind of uninformed about what blockchain technology allows, and what the blockchain world is.” 

So, whilst this is just a teaser piece as I await a potential conversation with the newlyweds themselves, I couldn’t wait to share. 

Late one afternoon, my good friend and neighbor, Eugene Morozov, is setting records for most panel appearances at a Government Blockchain Association event in Washington D.C and sends me a message: ‘Ben, there is a young lady here with a story you’ll love, and it involves Utah County Commissioner, Amelia Powers Gardner. I’m giving her your details.’

And with no more than this to work with, I jump on a call with the lady in question, Ekaterina. A student at Georgetown University, Ekaterina begins her story humbly, not sure if there might be any interest in this, but, I mean, ignoring the humanitarian aspect, ignoring gay rights, ignoring Putin, this is a story that unites 4 nations in the name of love, using blockchain technology. 

What more could a do-good hippy writer ask for in a piece!?

To start at the beginning though, the young couple, fortunate enough to be residing in Istanbul since the outbreak of the war, were seeking a way to take their vows in wake of the recent atrocities. After trying to no avail for weeks and months to find a way, they tell their troubles to Ekaterina.

As luck would have it, Ekaterina is aware of another LGBTQ couple who, as fate would have it, also had recently sealed their love in a very modern manner. Ekaterina puts the couple-to-be in touch with the couple who just were, and they put our protagonists in contact with...you guessed it, the office of Amelia.

If you didn’t read my original interview with Amelia, 10,00 weddings and an election, you should, it’s quite lovely. It also details how a marriage certificate can simply and efficiently be notarised on Ethereum (other blockchains are available). 

In this case, the process went a little something like this:

1. The ceremony is conducted over Zoom, with guests, officials, and the couple all present via webcam. 
2. The paper certificates are signed in Istanbul by the Russian couple.
3. The physical documents are sent to Germany (to a friend’s address) and made official in Utah using the magic of blockchain and simple cryptography.

To explain the last step a little more, the paper documents are given a unique hashing number, which corresponds to the digital documents. Then, a transaction is made on the Ethereum blockchain, and in this transaction, the hashing number is included, making the documents (both physical and digital) secure and provably verifiable. And, because it is blockchain, it’s decentralized, and this means even it can’t be undone. Not even by Putin.

What have we learned today then - That love knows no borders or boundaries? That Amelia is the best County Commissioner in all of the US? That blockchain technology can solve any and every problem in the known world - even war-mongering homophobic tyrants? Or all of the above?

Let’s think about it for a while, aye. In the meantime, hear more from Ekaterina over Youtube, where I’ve published the full interview, just for your infotainment purposes.