Tamara and Esayas, Austin, TX

We chose tattoos instead of wedding rings because we believe that love can’t be bought or sold or taken on or off and is not best represented by a material object. We thought that altering our bodies permanently was a better expression of our permanent union that supersedes the material. We also didn’t want to support the gold and diamond industries which have done so much harm to Africa. Our tattoos are each other’s initials in Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia, where we met.