One of the women who made national headlines for being in the Navy’s first same-sex “homecoming kiss” photo after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is now engaged — to a man — and has a three-year-old son.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of Placerville, Calif., won a raffle in December 2011 to be the first sailor to give her girlfriend a kiss in Virginia Beach.
The moment made Ms. Gaeta and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell famous.
But a follow-up by the Virginia Pilot over the weekend adds an unexpected twist to the story: Ms. Snell is now engaged to a man named Greg and the two have a son.
“I almost felt we were going to let people down,” Ms. Snell, a former fire controlman who exited the military last year, told the newspaper of the 2012 breakup. “I think it was such a big moment in, you know, history for the Navy and for the LGBT community so, I’m OK with it.”
Ms. Gaeta also left the Navy in 2015 and said she is now working to become a labor and delivery nurse.
The two veterans said that they sill occasionally speak to one another over the phone.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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