Joseph DeIorio, the former mayor of
Roselle Park, New Jersey, married jazz singer Thos Shipley last
month.
In a video released by The New York
Times announcing their celebration, DeIorio, a Republican, and
Shipley are seen holding hands while they walk their dog in the
bedroom suburb.
The men appear happy, excited to begin
their lives together as townspeople congratulate them on their
nuptials.
But for DeIorio, who served as mayor of
Roselle Park from 1995 to 2010, and spent five years on the council
before taking the mayor's office, coming to terms with his sexual
orientation didn't come easy.
On their first date, DeIorio said in
the video, Shipley asked him to hold his hand in Times Square.
“That was a huge deal for me to do
that,” DeIorio explained.
Nevertheless, he did. And five years
later the couple returned to Times Squate. This time, however,
DeIorio wasn't afraid to hold his partner's hand. In fact, he asked
him to marry him with a very public proposal.
“And you know me, I've just got to
shout it out to the world that I love you right here in Times Square
in front of us, our friends, our family and all the tourists,”
DeIorio said before getting down on one knee and producing an
engagement ring. As he did, people in the bleachers held up signs
which together read, “Thos Shipley will you marry me?” (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The couple married on Saturday,
September 14 in a ceremony performed by the Rev. Charles D. Morris at
the Fort Washington Collegiate Church, where the couple helps lead
the church's outreach to LGBT congregants.
“If you ever go to a water park and
they have those cliff jumps, time just seems endless, because you're
afraid to jump. And sometimes you just've got to jump,” DeIorio
said with a smile in the Times
video profile.