9 adorable pics of a Brazilian rugby player getting proposed to by her girlfriend.
'I wanted to show people that love wins.'
There were tears, laughs, and balloons after the Brazilian women's rugby team finished playing on Aug. 8, 2016, at the Rio Olympics.
But none of that had anything to do with the team snagging a medal (Team Brazil finished ninth, after all).
It had to do with one couple's very special moment.
Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images.
Player Isadora Cerullo was brought to tears because she'd just been proposed to by her girlfriend, Marjorie Enya.
Cerullo had just worked her magic on the rugby pitch, and Enya is the manager at the Olympic venue where the women's matches went down.
So the scene really couldn't have been more fitting.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
The couple, who both live in Sao Paulo, have been together for two years.
Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images.
And under the bright lights of Deodoro Stadium, they decided to make it official.
Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images.
"I know rugby people are amazing and they would embrace it," Enya said about the proposal, according to the BBC. "She is the love of my life."
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
Two women kissing on the world stage shows just how far we've come when it comes to LGBTQ rights and visibility.
Throughout the past 15 years, marriage equality has crept across much of the globe, predominantly in Europe and the Americas. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal nationwide in 21 countries (and counting).
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
But the global spread of marriage equality doesn't tell the whole story.
Progress usually results in pushback — and it has certainly, and unfortunately, been the case when it comes to the rights of LGBTQ people.
Homosexuality is still banned in far more places than where same-sex marriage is recognized. In several countries, it's punishable by death.
And while many Americans celebrated the Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage equality nationwide, a global push for more tolerance by the Obama administration may be causing more harm than good in certain regions of the globe, as it's "triggered people’s defense mechanism" against progress.
In the U.S., the rise of costly, transphobic "bathroom bills" shows how an unintended consequence of progress is oftentimes emboldened bigotry. And in Brazil — where Enya and Cerullo's engagement was largely met with elation and where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2013 — an alarming rise in anti-LGBTQ violence has put many officials on edge.
The current global climate of LGBTQ rights and protections is far more complicated than many people realize.
Despite the challenges that remain, however, Cerullo and Enya's beautiful engagement reflects a world that's, overall, becoming increasingly open to LGBTQ love.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
And the power of that moment certainly wasn't lost on Enya, who said she wasn't nervous to pop the question so publicly.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
As she noted, "I wanted to show people that love wins."
It seems like she did just that.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."