Any readers out there looking for a distraction from the drama currently taking place in Russia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Twitter can kindly step right up and enjoy this hearwarming story fresh from USA Today.
A crowd of approximately 200 gathered at the dock of the Naval Submarine Base New London in Connecticut to welcome home the USS New Mexico. Among those in attendance was Dylan Kirchner, who was there to greet his boyfriend Machinist's Mate Jerrel Revels. Kirchner ended up getting a little more than he bargained for, and was surprised when Revels got down on one knee and popped the question. Kirchner confessed to The Day that, while he had previosuly given thought to getting married, yesterday's proposal proved to be completely unexpected. "I didn't really care everybody was around. It felt just like the two of us," he said.
They have not yet set a wedding date.
USA Today reports that:
"Defense officials estimate there are 18,000 same-sex couples in the active-duty military, National Guard and Reserves. It's unclear how many of those are married."
Luckily, as gay soldiers feel safe enough to celebrate their realtionships publicly, those fogures will likely become much more concrete.
