Evan Wolfson, the president of the Freedom to Marry Coalition, has married his longtime boyfriend, Cheng He, in New York, one of six states where such unions are legal.

According to a profile in The New York Times, the men met in January 2002 on the site gay.com.

Dr. He, 36, earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology at the New York University and now works as a management consultant at Philosophy IB, a consultancy in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Wolfson, 54, an attorney who has devoted most of his adult life – first working at the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and later founding the Freedom to Marry Coalition – fighting for marriage equality, told the Times that he “always dreamed of falling in love” but felt from an early age that “the images of marriage in society didn't include me.”

In 2008, Wolfson proposed with a gift of a GPS system and a note: “Dear Cheng … As we travel life's journey, I'd be lost without you. Let's travel together. Will you marry me? Love, Evan.”

The couple married on October 15 at Guastavino's, a New York restaurant, surrounded by 50 close friends and family members.