A gay Marine couple talks about dating
and falling in love in a YouTube clip.
In the nearly 17-minute video, Russ and
Matt answer questions about their relationship from Facebook fans.
In response to the question, “What
did you do on your first date?” Russ answered: “There was no real
defined line on what our first date was, because we were good friends
before we started dating. So like we hung out all the time. And
then we're like, 'Hey we're dating now.' Then we hung out all the
time afterward.”
At one point the men share a kiss.
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The video is striking given that the
military ban on openly gay troops, also known as “Don't Ask, Don't
Tell,” ended less than 18 months ago.
In a second video, Russ said his father
reacted negatively to his coming out.
“He really only had three things to
say to me when I came out to him,” Russ
said. “And that was: One. I was dead to him. Two. He could
never be more ashamed of me. Three. And that he's moving out of the
town we live in, because he doesn't want to live in a town where
everybody knows he has a faggot for a son.”