“Love’s first kiss” has a resonance that goes back to fairy tales as a bringer of magic and happy endings. In true fairy tale fashion, a historic first kiss took place on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first same-sex couple to enjoy the coveted “first kiss” after one returned from 80 days at sea, the AP reports.
No one made a big deal of it. To the Navy and the families on the boat it was “really just a normal homecoming.” says Navy spokeswoman Ensign Sylvia Landis.
“Traditionally, when a family comes home there's a raffle ... that each sailor or family member buys tickets to,” Landis explained. “They draw names for winners of first hugs and first kisses.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, 23 of Placerville, California, had bought $50 worth of the $1 raffle tickets (others, she says, spent far more) for the opportunity to be the first to kiss their beloved on the USS Oak Hill’s return to Virginia from an 80 day deployment to Central America. And she won! Gaeta “shared a quick kiss in the rain with her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles.”
The women met at training school and Snell said being together was difficult under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
“A lot of people were not always supportive of it in the beginning, but we can finally be honest about who we are in our relationship, so I'm happy,” she said.
“It's nice to be able to be myself. It's been a long time coming,” Gaeta told reporters after the kiss. The crowd “screamed and waved flags” around the couple.
Nice to know, especially around the holidays, that every once in awhile the fairy tale ending actually comes true.
No one made a big deal of it. To the Navy and the families on the boat it was “really just a normal homecoming.” says Navy spokeswoman Ensign Sylvia Landis.
“Traditionally, when a family comes home there's a raffle ... that each sailor or family member buys tickets to,” Landis explained. “They draw names for winners of first hugs and first kisses.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, 23 of Placerville, California, had bought $50 worth of the $1 raffle tickets (others, she says, spent far more) for the opportunity to be the first to kiss their beloved on the USS Oak Hill’s return to Virginia from an 80 day deployment to Central America. And she won! Gaeta “shared a quick kiss in the rain with her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles.”
The women met at training school and Snell said being together was difficult under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
“A lot of people were not always supportive of it in the beginning, but we can finally be honest about who we are in our relationship, so I'm happy,” she said.
“It's nice to be able to be myself. It's been a long time coming,” Gaeta told reporters after the kiss. The crowd “screamed and waved flags” around the couple.
Nice to know, especially around the holidays, that every once in awhile the fairy tale ending actually comes true.
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