Associated Press: As ban ends, Navy officer, partner wed in Vt.:
Just as the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy took effect, Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were married before a small group of family and friends.Congratulations to the happy couple.
The two men, who'd been together 11 years, decided to marry in Vermont in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone. That way, they were able to recite their vows at the stroke of midnight — at the first possible moment after the ban ended. "I think it was a beautiful ceremony. The emotions really hit me...but it's finally official," Ross said early Tuesday.
Hours before the change, the American military was also making final preparations for the historic policy shift. The Pentagon announced that it was already accepting applications from openly gay candidates, although officials said they would wait a day before reviewing them.
Ross, 33, and Dan Swezy, a 49-year-old civilian, traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., so they could get married in Vermont, the first state to allow gays to enter into civil unions and one of six that have legalized same-sex marriage.
Ross wore his dress uniform for the double-ring ceremony that began at 11:45 p.m. Monday at Duxbury's Moose Meadow Lodge, a log cabin bed-and-breakfast perched on a hillside about 15 miles northwest of Montpelier. The lodge says it hosted the state's first gay wedding in 2009.
Justice of the Peace Greg Trulson proclaimed the marriage at exactly midnight.
But just to remind you that there are still some folks who would gleefully kick your gay, married, military ass right back into the closet and nail the door shut, if only they got the chance:
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5 comments:
It took this long...and we still have a long way to go. I find it hard to live in a backward, homophobic state like Florida. We probably will be the next to the last state to have same sex marriage...and the last one of course would be Utah.
saludos,
raulito
http://fromtop2bttm.blogspot.com/
Oh no, I am confident Texas will take the honors for last state to reach enlightenment. But I know how you feel, believe me.
I watched the HBO special "The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell" last night and cried like a baby. I learned that Seator John McCain is a fucking asshole and things will get better when these old farts with their backward views all die off.
My state NJ came close to legalizing gay marriage but we got an asshole Republican elected as Governor that put an end to that.
I hear ya Stan. Just think how I feel down here where Rick Perry sits at the right hand of God.
One day all the rest of the discrimination will be history like DADT, but it sure is a long time coming.
There will be a time when the marriage laws will have to be consistent throughout the country. It may come down to the supreme court ruling it so...but with the current court, who knows...
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