A little more than a year after repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point hosted its first gay wedding.

On Saturday, Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Gnesin married in a ceremony conducted by Army Chaplain Col. J. Wesley Smith of Dover Air Force Base.

Fulton, a West Point graduate, serves as a presidential appointee to the West Point Board of Visitors. She is also the executive director of Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point graduates, and serves on the OutServe-SLDN Board of Directors.

The couple, together 17 years, said they would have preferred to marry in their home state of New Jersey but decided they “couldn't wait any longer,” particularly because Gnesin, 52, is a “breast cancer survivor, and has been dealing with Multiple Sclerosis for more than ten years.” New Jersey currently recognizes gay and lesbian couples with civil unions. A marriage bill approved last year by lawmakers was vetoed by Governor Chris Christie.

“It is wonderful for us to celebrate the recognition that New York state will give our marriage,” Fulton said, then added that “there is also some regret that we can't get married in our home state.”

OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson attended the ceremony with her wife Danyelle, both of whom are West Point graduates and married in the Cadet Chapel in 1994, prior to Allyson's gender transition.

“Witnessing the joining of Sue and Penny in holy matrimony in this sacred place means a great deal to gay and lesbian alumni of West Point, and to all LGBT service members,” Robinson said in a statement. “It sends a clear message that we, too, are part of the 'Long Gray Line' of graduates and that we will not back down until our families receive the same respect and the same benefits other military families do.”