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News

Gay Sailor Wins First Kiss With His New Husband After Long Deployment

It was an adorable moment... and conservatives in Florida are losing their minds.

Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.

Read Full Bio

Rachel Kiley

rachelkiley

December 29 2018 4:15 PM EST

December 09 2022 9:12 AM EST

A kiss between a sailor and his husband has sparked some eye-roll-worthy outrage in Jacksonville, Florida.

Bryan Woodington had been deployed for seven months, leaving for duty only a few months after marrying his now-husband Kenneth. As the ship returned, Bryan won the coveted ceremonial “first kiss” lottery, allowing him to be the first to be reunited with his spouse for a loving moment.

“I was excited and I couldn’t wait for it to happen,” Bryan told local station News4Jax, who televised the moment. “I knew I was going to dip him.”

And he did, recreating the famous V-J Day Times Square kiss (albeit much more romantically and consensually).

After the segment aired, News4Jax reported they received negative comments from viewers who wanted a “family friendly” news channel, and who were offended by a celebratory kiss just because it was between two men.

Fortunately, the Woodingtons don’t seem too concerned by the haters, despite some of the comments being posted to the Naval Station Mayport’s Facebook page.

“Honestly, I’m the type of person who doesn’t really care that much about what people say,” Kenneth said.

Either way, they say, the Navy supports them and has been very accepting. And while some Floridians might be panicking that their children have now seen gay people on TV, at the base, the kiss between the husbands was greeted with nothing but cheers.