It’s not every day that I see something that excites both my LGBT-rights-loving pride and warms my heart with the sheer power of adorability, but when one attractive real-life lady in uniform kissed another (in what is an official “first kiss on land” ceremony in the US Navy), I all but swooned right off my chair. NPR reports:
When Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta kissed Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell today in Virginia Beach, a little bit of history was made. As The Virginian-Pilot explains: ‘It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one. Today, for the first time [according to the Navy], the happily reunited couple was gay.’
This was the first time a same-sex couple was picked for the tradition, which is now possible since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, and according to NPR, the crowd was cheering when the young couple (who met in training and have been together two years) embraced.
Perhaps the best part is that the returning sailor won the right to the honor by winning a raffle! It’s a Christmas (or Chanukah/Kwanzaa/holiday) miracle!
When DADT kicked the bucket a few months back, we took a very special, geeky look at the sci-fi women in uniform that inspired us to ask and tell. This time around, let’s take a look back at the women of speculative fiction who’ve boldly — and openly – gone to the Sapphic side, a real case of sci-fi (and its wonderful reputation for progressive social norms) preceding reality.
Admiral Helen Cain and Gina Inviere, Battlestar Galactica: Razor:
Let’s forget for one moment that Gina is a cylon and Cain was so rocked by her lover’s true nature that she allowed her to be tortured (and worse). In happier times, the good admiral was out and proud on the good ship Battlestar Pegasus, and she and Gina, a systems analyst, were a happy queer military couple. In space. So say we all.
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax and Lenara, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
Ok, so technically, this isn’t so much about Dax and Lenara as it is about the former lives they each lived as Trills (a species that changes host bodies with time, and in turn lives many typical lifetimes), but it was still a revolutionary, pro-gay Star Trek episode and a totally sexy, believable romance. Even love looks better in a Starfleet uniform.
Female Shepard and Liara T’soni, Mass Effect:
Commander Shepard is a badass starship captain. She takes no prisoners. She tends towards the paragon (or renegade) side of humanity. And she loves a woman in blue.
Anita Bayliss and Margaret Wood, a real-life lesbian couple inspired by Star Trek
This real-life UK couple got married dressed in replicas of Captain Picard’s dress uniform from Star Trek: Nemesis, and hosted a blowout Star Trek wedding, wherein every guest came dressed as a character from the series. According to The Daily Mail: “The couple met on an internet forum and from that shared passion for sci-fi they eventually decided to live long and prosper together by tying the knot.”
Life imitates art — and it’s a beautiful thing.
