Couple Weds Shortly After 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Expires

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

Gays and lesbians can finally serve openly in the U.S. military, now that the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that required them to stay in the closet was wiped off the books at midnight.

One couple, Navy Lt. Gary Ross, 33, and his civilian partner, Dan Sweezy, 49, wasted no time and tied the knot in Vermont shortly after the policy expired: They were declared husband and husband.

The happy couple traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., to get married in Vermont, the state that led the way for the country toward the legalization of gay marriage, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re thrilled the policy is gone,” said Ross, who wore his Navy dress blue uniform at the ceremony at the log cabin bed-and-breakfast Moose Meadow Lodge in Duxbury.

Read more by Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File