Saturday, December 1, 2012

West Point Chapel Has Its 1st Same-Sex Wedding; Army Chaplain Conducts Ceremony of NJ Lesbians

Cadet Chapel -- the landmark Gothic church that is a center for spiritual life at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point -- hosted its first same-sex wedding today (December 1, 2012), according to the Yahoo News website.

Penelope Gnesin and Brenda Sue Fulton -- a West Point graduate -- exchanged vows in the regal church in an afternoon ceremony, attended by about 250 guests and conducted by a senior Army chaplain.

The two have been together for 17 years. They had a civil commitment ceremony that didn't carry any legal force in 1999 and had long hoped to formally tie the knot. The way was cleared last year, when New York state legalized same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama lifted the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military.

The newly married lesbians both live in New Jersey and would have preferred to have the wedding there, but that state does not allow gay marriage.

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