Falling in love with Ms. Upadhyaya replaced that inclination with the desire for something more long-lasting. In January 2020, she was accepted into a six-month writing fellowship program in Las Vegas, and she invited Ms. Upadhyaya to come with her. For Ms. Upadhyaya, whose freelance career gave her the flexibility to travel, the decision was easy.
“We were excited to live together, and happy,” Ms. Upadhyaya said. Two months later, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, “we ended up being stuck there together,” she said. Neither minded.
When Ms. Arnett eventually brought Ms. Upadhyaya to the famed 7-Eleven store, her “everyday hangout spot,” the milestone was “even more significant than calling her my girlfriend,” she said.
In September 2022, the couple moved to Winter Park. “I missed home,” Ms. Arnett said. Three months later, on Dec. 25, 2022, at the home of Ms. Upadhyaya’s parents in Virginia, Ms. Arnett proposed with a ring from the queer-owned jeweler Automic Gold.
On Feb. 10, the couple were married in front of 150 guests, including the writers Lauren Groff and Jami Attenberg, at the historic farmers’ market building in Winter Park, a historic site. The crowd clapped and cheered throughout the ceremony, which was officiated by the writer Tommy Pico, a Universal Life Church minister.
During the processional, Mr. Swanson, Ms. Arnett’s son, handed the couple their rings. For months, “we’d been calling it our Big Gay Wedding in Florida,” Ms. Upadhyaya said. The atmosphere was that, and more, Ms. Arnett said: “It was transcendent.”
