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A Kiss For The History Books- Two Women Share Kiss In Navy Tradition

Who knows…it may be come as famous as another picture of a sailor kissing a woman….

US Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Geata and her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlaic Snell, showed that, indeed, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is dead…and it does not look like there was a lot of anger or upset either. There is a Navy tradition that raffles off the first kiss on the pier after a ship returns from sea, and that raffle was won by Geata, who descended from the USS Oak Hill to share the first kiss.

Geata, 23, wore her dress uniform and Snell wore a black leather jacket, scarf and blue jeans. The two kissed while the crowd screamed and waved flags around them.

Geata told reporters “It’s something new, that’s for sure. It’s nice to be able to be myself. It’s been a long time coming.” Neither the Navy nor the couple tried to play up the kiss, and tried to make it seem like it was just another kiss in a long tradition. Still, according to David Bauer, the commanding officer of the Oak Hill, the reaction from the crew to learning about the kiss between the two was pretty much positive. Bauer stated “It’s going to happen and the crew’s going to enjoy it. We’re going to move on and it won’t overshadow the great things that this crew has accomplished over the past three months.”

The amphibious ship returned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story after an 80-day deployment to Central America. Snell is assigned to the USS Bainbridge, and both are Navy fire controlmen. Those are the ones who maintain and operate the weapons systems on the ship. They met while at training school where they were roommates. They have been dating for two years now.

Snell stated that “We did have to hide it a lot in the beginning. A lot of people were not always supportive of it in the beginning, but we can finally be honest about who we are in our relationship, so I’m happy.”

The Navy has stated that this was the first time that a same-sex couple has been chosen for the first kiss upon a ship’s return. Sailors and their loved ones buy $1 raffle tickets in order to get that kiss, and Geata bought fifty of them. Snell knows this will not be the last time this happens and said “I think that it’s something that is going to open a lot of doors, for not just our relationship, but all the other gay and lesbian relationships that are in the military now.”

Via Huffington Post