[Herald Interview] After first meeting as fans, this couple got married to BTS music

(Amber & Nikole Rodriguez)

Tweets about BTS are easy to come by, but now a story about a same-sex ARMY couple who got married this month has gone viral.

“From meeting on Twitter because of @BTS_twt to meeting in real life at the BTS concert to getting married yesterday to BTS’ instrumentals, it has been one hell of a journey,” the couple tweeted on Jan 6, which has received over 25,000 likes since.

“Thank u BTS for bringing us together,” they wrote.

Amber Rodriguez, 25, originally from Charleston, South Carolina now lives with her wife Nikole Rodriguez, 22, a student from Peru who is studying in Kansas, US.

The two say they didn’t anticipate the reaction.

“I mainly posted just for our mutual friends. It was a little summarization of our story and then a whole lot of people started … it was crazy,” Amber said.

The couple met a little over two years ago on Twitter when Amber began dedicating her account to BTS. One day, she was talking about Yoongi, whose stage name is Suga, and Nikole replied and the two soon became best friends.

And on Jan. 4, the two got married to BTS instrumental tracks.

“There were three songs during the ceremony. The first one was ‘Jamais Vu’ when everyone was coming into the ceremony. It was ‘Euphoria’ when I came in and ‘Crystal Snow’ for Amber.”

(Amber & Nikole Rodriguez)

And “Mikrokosmos” came on as the couple was on their way out -- a track they thought was symbolic of their happiness together.

The two say “stanning” the same act as a couple is fun.

“We drove for 18 hours to get here from North Carolina (to Kansas) and the whole time we were just jamming up BTS and a couple of girl groups,” Amber said before adding, “And the merchandise is cheaper because we can share them.”

BTS Army a ‘safe space’ for LGBTQ

Back in 2018, BTS delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly.

“No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, gender identity: speak yourself,” RM, the leader of the group said.

(Amber & Nikole Rodriguez)

And Nikole recalls the speech as one of the multiple examples of why people think of the BTS Army as a safe space for sexual minorities along with recommending artists who are part of the community like Troye Sivan.

“At the UN, he mentioned ‘no matter gender identity’ which is very inclusive of trans-identity, nonbinary identities so that was a clear sign for everyone.”

To her, RM has always been inclusive in his language.

For reference, she points to a 2017 interview with Entertainment Tonight, during which the group was asked about love and RM mentioned both a “boyfriend and a girlfriend.”

In a 2018 interview with Billboard, Suga was quoted as saying, “There’s nothing wrong. Everyone is equal” when talking about the 2012 “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

For some though, the group’s message of LGBTQ inclusivity is not strong enough, but Nikole says she understands the subtlety.

“I also come from a country where LGBTQ issues and rights are very difficult to talk about without getting a lot of pushback so I understand they have to be sometimes careful.”

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)